“Fearless Felix” Backs Hofer, Jews “Anxious”

Austrian daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner—most famous for breaking the sound barrier when he jumped to Earth in 2012—has publicly endorsed the FPÖ’s Norbert Hofer in today’s knife-edge presidential elections.

At the same time, the European Jewish Congress has described Hofer’s expected victory as “deeply troubling” and the UK’s Jewish Chronicle has said Jews are “anxious” at the election’s possible outcome.

felix

In a video and post on his Facebook page, Baumgartner called on his fans to vote for Norbert Hofer.

Accusing Hofer’s rival, the communist/Green-backed Alexander van der Bellen, of being a “president of lies,” Baumgartner says that Van der Bellen has “flip-flopped over support for the TTIP free trade agreement,” ridicules him for calling EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker an “honorable man,” and calls out the economics professor for being unable to cite, during a TV appearance, which percentage of Austria’s economy is made up of exports.

“Van der Bellen would be a president of lies, for whom the EU is more important than his own country and who wavers like a flag in the wind. Unsuitable to be president, but superbly qualified to be an MEP,” he said sarcastically.

hofer-voting

Hofer casts his vote in the second round, May 22, 2016, in his home town of Pinkafeld.

He also dismissed leftist claims that electing Hofer would do harm to Austria’s image. “It is not Hofer voters who harm our country and its image, it is the system’s media and politicians of the current government, their parties, and their desperate attempt to define us,” he said.

“The good news is that this has stopped. After being used for years, this argument has become strained and is now obsolete. I am neither right nor left, but a critically thinking person, who is not afraid to speak his mind. So, rouse once more and do the right thing: Sunday is Z-day, election day—vote for Norbert Hofer. FELIX.”

Baumgartner ended his post with the tag “#shitstormwelcome.” (For a reason which is not entirely clear, the phrase “shitstorm” has entered German parlance without the inappropriateness it contains in English, and is regularly used by the mass media in Germany and Austria. Its meaning, is however, identical in German and English usage.)

In January this year, Baumgartner declared that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-invasion policy, and posted up a series of comments criticizing the nonwhite invasion of Europe.

Jewish-Chronicle=Hofer

Meanwhile, a report in the UK’s Jewish Chronicle announced that Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, described the election as “deeply troubling… That a country at the heart of Europe can show such support to the far right barely 70 years on from the Holocaust shows that our collective memories are failing.”

The Jewish Chronicle added that the British Jewish Board of Deputies also voiced its “deep concern” over what it called the “rise of Austria’s xenophobic right,” starting its article with the statement, “Austria’s Jewish community faces today’s presidential election with anxiety as far-right candidate Norbert Hofer looks set to become the country’s next head of state.”

The Jewish condemnation comes in spite of the FPÖ’s bowing and scraping to the Jewish lobby, which has included visits to Israel by both party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and Hofer.

A Hofer election victory will also spark a major confrontation with the European Union, with that body’s president announcing that he would not even talk to the Austrian government if Hofer wins.

Le Monde

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker told the French newspaper Le Monde last Friday that the “prospect of seeing the far-right win forces me to say that I don’t like them. The Austrians don’t like to hear this but I don’t care: there is no debate or dialogue with the far-right.”

The latest opinion polls indicated that Hofer had on average around a five point lead over Van der Bellen.

A Hofer victory will most likely pave the way for an FPÖ government and the election of party leader Heinz-Christian Strache as chancellor. Although the next parliamentary elections are only scheduled for 2018, the shock-effect of a Hofer victory could bring them forward.

Hofer’s first round victory last month provoked the resignation of the Socialist chancellor, Werner Faymann, and a second round victor today could well result in the current conservative-socialist alliance government breaking down.

The office of the president has the power to appoint and dismiss governments, and in the event of a breakdown in the current ruling coalition, a Hofer presidency would easily be able to appoint the FPÖ to power, particularly because all polls show that they are now the largest party in Austria.



Source Article from http://newobserveronline.com/fearless-felix-backs-hofer-jews-anxious/

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes