The Uneven Landscapes of Censorship

Abstract In November 2020, as part of Operation Luxor, the home of Austrian Islamophobia scholar Farid Hafez was raided. In December 2023, I was made to withdraw from an almost-complete hiring process at the University of Vienna due to implicit antisemitism accusations. This article compares the two cases to highlight Austria’s uneven landscapes of censorship. In the German-speaking world and beyond, equalizing “anti-racism” or “anti-discrimination” frameworks can obscure crucial power differentials. Whereas an incitement to discourse propels forward antisemitism accusations (especially since October 7), mechanisms of silencing and repression constrain talk of Islamophobia. Simply put, one can easily lose one’s job over accusations of antisemitism but is far less likely to lose one’s job over the accusation of being Islamophobic. What is parallel to antisemitism and fought with equal vigor (and with equal or even more state and institutional support) is not Islamophobia but “Islamism.”