From "Boycott Israel!" to calls for an end to Austrian cooperation with the Israeli occupation entity: The slogans and demands chanted at the weekly protests in Vienna and other cities in Austria against the ongoing genocide in Gaza are well known by now – also to people beyond the streets and the active Palestine solidarity movement. However, the underlying political-economic reality is not. 

Taking into account the absurd refusal of Austrian media to call the Zionist terror against Palestinians by name, and their obsessive demonization of any solidarity with the Palestinian people, the information vacuum seems logical. There is no other topic that unites the media landscape from public to private and liberal to conservative as sharply behind the country’s official policies as the "Near East conflict". 

Practically all outlets in Austria appeal in unison to the guilty conscience of Austrian society and shamelessly exploit its "historic responsibility" to legitimize another genocide. From the uncritical repetition of Israeli military propaganda and open endorsement of the crimes of the IOF to defamatory articles against (pro-)Palestinian groups and individuals: Even nine months into the incessant massacres in the Gaza Strip, the overall media coverage remains dominated by Zionist talking points. 

Mass manipulation into warmongering

Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky call it manufacturing consent when targeted, mass media circulated propaganda, and misinformation are willfully used to garner popular support for an originally controversial (government) endeavour such as an imperialist war. Take the preparation for the invasion of Iraq: The population of the United States was in favour of the war. It was only much later that its position turned after the propagated claims around Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction were eventually exposed as lies. 

In a similar manner, media play an essential role in the largely prevailing public acceptance of the Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the escalating repression of solidarity work in Austria. In accordance with political decision makers, they are defending the interests of the Austrian government and the rulers of the EU and the US tooth and nail. Western powers are fighting increasingly desperately against their waning hegemony and loosening grip over the Global South as the imperialist world order was dealt a major blow on October 7th and continues to shake under the mounting consequences.

Since the US/NATO-led war in Ukraine started, media have shown a comparable approach towards a related issue: national defense, militarization, and armament. They employ war-romanticizing rhetoric and fearmongering or opt for the rationalization of the militarization craze, which not very accidentally seems to thrive alongside the soaring profits of the defense industry. According to recurrent polls, the majority of the population in Austria, however, stands firmly behind the constitutionally enacted neutrality that was agreed upon as a presequisite demanded by the Soviet Union to establish an Austrian state after the departure of the Allied forces in 1955. A popular petition affirming the importance of it with 120.000 signatures was presented to the parliament in January.

An arsenal to protect neutrality 

Austria’s chancellor Karl Nehammer, therefore, coined a new term: "Defensive neutrality". The government’s narrative, led by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, promotes a neutrality that needs to be defended militarily. Many established journalists follow this lead. In the weekly news profile, for example, Gernot Bauer writes of Austria as "a country of losers" due to the tendency of young men choosing to do alternative service instead of joining the military. The author urges a "mental armament" and laments a recent survey in which only 16% of the inquired stated that they were ready to defend the republic "by the weapon".

The national armament campaign was kicked off in summer 2023 when Austria decided to participate in the European air defense project "Skyshield Initiative" but reached its peak in this year. The budget for the military was approved with 4 billion euros, 700 million more than in the previous year and 18.1 billion in total until 2027. It constitutes Austria’s biggest defense acquisition since 20 years.

PR arguments of the responsible politicians and officers were circulated, and some analyses and interviews were published in every outlet, so the average Austrian citizen was informed about the basic parameters of the project, knew some rough numbers, and a few selected opinions. Further details and background research exceeding a mediocre military explanation were nowhere to be found though. Nobody really questioned where the billions are actually going. 

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The billions are mostly being funneled into the genocidal arms industries of the US and "Israel". Austria is investing in weapons, machinery, and equipment manufactured by exactly those criminal countries and corporations that are facilitating the slaughter in Gaza. By those who send unlimited tons of bombs to the Zionist occupation that has so far killed over 16.000 Palestinian children, and by those who supply ammunition, drones, warplanes, and tanks. The blunt material reality of Austria’s co-sponsoring of the genocide becomes irrefutable when studying the deals sealed in the context of the government’s latest defense spree.

1.8 billion euros went into 225 armored personnel carriers of the model Pandur Evolution. As with prior yet much smaller orders in 2017 (34 for 105 million) and 2021 (30 for 108 million), the vehicles are produced by the company Steyr Spezial Fahrzeuge (SSF) at their plant in Vienna-Simmering. Since 2003, SSF has been owned by – the world’s fifth largest – US defense contractor General Dynamics (GD), and is fully integrated in its European subsidiary General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS).

General Dynamics has been supplying Israeli forces with all kinds of heavy weaponry for decades. They were used in the assaults on the Gaza Strip in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2022 and are killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians every day in the current genocidal onslaught. Arms sold to "Israel" by GD include various types of bombs (e.g. bunker busters), gun systems, and components for the F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, as well as for Merkava IV and Leopard tanks, and other combat and crew vehicles.

Hundreds of millions for Israeli drone giant

The formal signing of the contract for the Pandur bulk purchase took place at the beginning of this year. Attending were, aside from the chancellor and the defense minister, the CEO of GDELS Martin Reischer, and last but not least, Karl Hufnagl, the CEO of ESL Advanced Information Technology, ESLAIT for short. The company located in Vienna will contribute "16 mortar setups and further systems to the project" is what a short news prompt in the Austrian military journal habtACHT! read back then. 

The blog militaryleak.com reports a 300 million euro deal with ESLAIT for the supply of WS4 Panther weapons systems to be constructed onto the earlier mentioned Pandur Evolution carriers. The WS4 Panther systems translate into remotely operated machine gun stations that have been part of the Austrian military inventory since they were first acquired in 2018. 

ESLAIT is the Austrian subsidiary of the leading Israeli drone manufacturer Elbit Systems. Its drones have surveilled and bombed the Gaza Strip and West Bank refugee camps from Jenin to Tulkarm for years. They are also being deployed – and shot down by the Islamic Resistance – in the Zionist aggression on South Lebanon. It is noteworthy that the Hermes 900 drones, which cost six million euros each contain engines produced by the Austrian company Rotax.

Elbit Systems obviously plays a pivotal role in the Zionist entity’s existential arms industries. Since 2023, European (NATO) countries have increasingly turned to Elbit Systems after the corporation presented itself as an experienced partner in the midst of the lucrative EU defense boom. Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria took the bait, among others.

Investments in a crumbling colonial project

It is quite ludicrous that the "neutral" republic of Austria invests three-digit millions in Elbit Systems, further enabling the continuation of the war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon. It does not make a difference in terms of complicity whether a country delivers weapons or buys them from "Israel" to support its domestic industry of violence. The motif remains the same: "Israel" must win. It must prevail as the crucial, most effective US-European outpost to destabilize, subjugate, and plunder the region. Despite the chances for this to happen being slimmer than they have been in 76 years – even according to their own experts in the military and intelligence – securing Western dominance and wealth means protecting the Zionist settler-colonial project.

There are more Austrian agreements with Elbit Systems: In May, the company confirmed a deal over almost 50 million euros for the delivery of unmanned Crossbow gun turrets to be installed by GDELS onto their Pandur Evolution vehicles. While Elbit Systems left out the recipient in their press release, militäraktuell.at, an Austrian military news website co-funded by the advertising budget of the ministry of defense, reveals the client: Austria. The Crossbow system was commissioned by the IOF with Austria being the first international customer after it was formally introduced at the Defense and Security Equipment International arms fair in London in September 2023.

The Austrian Air Force is building up as well. The US company Universal Avionics will supply new flight management systems to the AB212 military helicopters. Universal Avionics was sold to Elbit Systems in 2018. So again, the Israeli industry cashes in. 

With Rheinmetall in Germany, another busy Elbit Systems-affiliated corporation is benefitting from the Austrian armament expenses. In March 2023, Elbit Systems and Rheinmetall hosted a ceremony to test their new artillery in the occupied al-Naqab desert in the presence of high-ranking officers from "Israel", Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and Hungary. Rheinmetall has also supplied "Israel" with tank ammunition by direct order of the German government during the genocide. 

As per military media, the Austrian Rheinmetall purchase entails drone and air defense systems, namely 36 Skyranger turrets for the new Pandur carriers plus anti-aircraft cannons that were already commissioned in December last year. Additionally, the order contains 300 more Rheinmetall-MAN trucks for 300 million euros, expanding the prior contract from spring 2023 to 1.375 vehicles for 825 million in total.

Dissent from below against propaganda from above

Why were these important matters not discussed transparently? Did Austrian media try to conceal the problematic defense aspirations of the government with their surface coverage? Or did they not have any questions to begin with? Either option would certainly qualify as a journalistic capitulation. 

Would the Austrian public react more strongly to the ongoing massacres in Gaza if people were made aware about their tax money flowing into the Israeli war crimes? Is the withholding and distortion of information being used as a tool to manufacture passive consent and evade potential collective dissent from below? 

Parallel to the military investments and corresponding media agitation, Austria’s militarization campaign is also intervening in public education. With national defense being a "mindset" above everything, according to the government, teaching material that "prompts children’s and youth’s interest in the military" were admitted into curricula and school books. On top of that, an e-lecture series for teachers was hosted in April, including a talk held by a military official about "the current situation in Israel and in Ukraine". The declared objective behind the lectures was literally to "increase the will to fight" among students. It seems as if the next generation is already being raised by the upgraded "defensive neutrality". Soon, mass media will take over anyway.