"Whatever the combination of forces
that impel it, there is now, for the first
time in postwar Austria, a serious com-
mitment to fighting racism and anti-
semitism," wrote Jewish scholar Robert
Wistrich in a report last year on Austria
and the legacy of the Holocaust.
On the other hand, he continued, "if
the establishment has become more lib-
eral in the wake of the Waldheim fiasco,
the reservoir of provincial conservatism
and of radical-populist protest remains
formidable."
This negative trend coalesced around
the Freedom Party and particularly
around Haider himself He was elected
leader of the party in 1986 when he was
only 37 and radicalized it into a hotbed
of national populism that appeals to
"Austria for the AUstrians."
The son of Nazi supporters, Haider is
a charismatic politician who is skilled in
switching his positions and rhetoric to
suit his audiences. He became infamous
for statements that praised aspects of the
Third Reich.
While promising law and order, fam-
ily benefits, more jobs and a flat tax, his
rhetoric plays on fears that Austria will
be "swamped" by immigrants from
Eastern Europe and the Third World. As
such, he loudly has warned against the
planned expansion of the European
Union to include several former
Communist states.
Marta Halpert, director of the
Vienna-based Europe office of the Anti-
Defamation League, calls him a "strate-
gic opportunist."
"Haider brilliantly uses and therefore
profits from his strategic opportunism,"
she told an audience last month.
Andras Kovacs, a Budapest-based
sociologist who closely tracks national-
ism, xenophobia and antisemitism, pre-
dicted that Haider would soon distance
himself from antisemitism — at least on
the surface — if his party entered the
government
"All this is not important for Haider,
and he was actually not very radical in
these sensitive questions," Kovacs said.
"What he said was meant for a certain
Austrian audience for electoral purpos-
es. ),
In her presentation, Halpert stressed
that critics of Haider should also look
beyond his own powerful demagogy.
She said the two leading parties, the
Social Democrats and the Conservatives,
"do have their share of responsibility for
Haider's electoral success."
Vienna, she said, "ignored the gun-
powder of daily cultural clashes, and
that is exactly the playground where
Haider could act out his nationalistic,
xenophobic policy." ❑
Get Your
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Enroll in an AJE
Lifelong Learning
Judaic Studies
Course!
Winter 2000
AN INTENSIVE TOUR THROUGH
JEWISH HISTORY
Instructor: Rabbi Steven Weil, Young Israel of Oak Park
Philosophical, historical and political Issues that have
faced the Jewish people.
Mondays, 7:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m
Beginning February 7, for 13 weeks
Jewish Community Center, D. Dan and Betty Kahn Bldg.,
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Campus, W. Bloomfield.
WHO IS WISE? INSIGHTS FROM
PIRI(EI AVOT
Instructor: Rabbi Rod Glogower, B'nai Brith Hillel
Foundation, University of Michigan
A study of Mishnaic text for those at an envy level as
well as those with some text study experience.
Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. - noon
Beginning February 9, for 14 weeks
Agency for JewiSh Education
21550 West 12 Mile Rd., Southfield.
INSIDE THE RABBINIC MIND
instructor: Rabbi Rod Glogower, B'nai Brith Hillel
Foundation, University of Michigan
gency or
jewigi education
An exploration of Talmud commentaries, codes,
responsa and other genre of Rabbinic literature.
Cgirrik
f
. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Beginning February 9, for 14 weeks
Agency for Jewish Education
21550 West 12 Mile Rd., Southfield.
AJE offers a variety of other adult education learning
oppgitunities. To register fOr a Judaic Studies course or for
a Lifelong Learning brochure, please call Haviva Jacobs at
AJE, (248) 354-1050.
Rabbi Steven Well
Rabbi Rod Glogower
The Agency for.Jewish Education is a constituent of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
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