Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), riding high in opinion polls
and seeking to moderate its image, on Monday dismissed one of its lawmakers for
an allegedly
antisemitic Facebook post.
Susanne Winter, 58, was given until 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) to quit her post
as an MP in the Austrian parliament and from the FPOe or be expelled, the
opposition party said in a statement.
She had replied on the social network to a posting about a global
conspiracy of “Zionist money Jews” with: “Nice, you have taken the words right
out of my mouth ;-).”
She added: “There are lots of things that I am not allowed to say. This
makes me all the happier about courageous, independent people!”
The comments provoked outrage, with Vienna’s Jewish Community
organization calling Winter a “disgrace to the Austrian parliament” and the
chamber’s speaker referring the comments to state prosecutors.
Winter said her comments were in reference to an article that the other
user was reacting to, but the FPOe saw it differently, saying she had “crossed
a red line.”
