False letter from the Austrian Alpine Club in circulation

Press release

Vienna, March 30, 2023 - A fake letter is currently in circulation that allegedly comes from the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGÖ) and calls on the Austrian Alpine Association (ÖAV) to agree to the placement of crescents on mountain peaks. The forgery goes back to a group of artists who identified themselves as the authors in 2006.

The letter claims that the IGGÖ criticized summit crosses as “Christian symbols of power” and urged the ÖAV to compromise. This compromise allows crescents to be placed on mountain peaks.

However, the people and data mentioned in the letter are outdated, which suggests that it cannot be a recent correspondence. Andreas Ermacora is now President of the ÖAV, while Omar Al-Rawi has no longer been the IGGÖ's integration officer since 2011.

The fake letter was distributed in 2006 and sparked a political controversy at the time. A BZÖ politician quoted from the supposedly genuine letter and was then sued by the IGGÖ and Al-Rawi. The group of artists later claimed responsibility for the forgery.

For the whole fact check: htpps://www.mimikama.org/fake-brief-des-oesterreichische-alpenvereins/

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