Austrian president suggests all women wear hijabs

There may come a day when Austria will ask all women to wear an Islamic headscarf to fight Islamophobia.

So says Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

Speaking before an audience of students, the left-wing former leader of Austria's Green Party stated, "It is every woman's right to dress exactly as she pleases."

But, he said, "And if things continue like this… in light of manifestly rampant Islamophobia, the day will come where we will have to ask all women to wear a headscarf – all – in solidarity with those who wear it for religious reasons."

According to the London Independent, Van der Bellen was responding to a question from a schoolgirl who argued a ban on Islamic hijabs or veils would reduce women to their appearance and shut some out of the labor market. Although the president made the comments in March, they came to light only recently after being included in an Austrian TV broadcast.

Paul Nehlen, the Wisconsin businessman who produced and directed the new documentary "Hijrah: Radical Islam's Global Invasion," said Islam appears to have conquered Van der Bellen mentally, even if ordinary Austrians are not yet ready to surrender their country to Islam.

"This is another example of the world’s leaders bowing to Islam while their citizens are forced to wage the battle on a daily basis," Nehlen told WND. "The world's elite, including Speaker Paul Ryan, live in walled mansions. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we don't have that luxury."

Nehlen, who challenged Ryan for his congressional seat in last year's GOP primary, said Muslims in Austria must find Van der Bellen's words encouraging.

"This is a civilization jihad, and as such, if they can change the culture, they see it as a win," he said. "Islam means 'submission'; Islam doesn't mean peace. So by suggesting they are going to control the populace, they are submitting to what Islam prescribes – headscarves for women."

Nehlen, who also authored a soon-to-be published book called "Wage the Battle," hopes Austria begins the process of repatriating Muslim refugees sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he fears, an overt physical war will be necessary unless the country intends to submit to Islam. As it stands now, Islam's conquest has only been cultural.

"They might not have Shariah laws, but they are living within the confines of the headscarf," Nehlen noted.

America is headed down a suicidal path – but it's a subtle invasion, and not many Americans understand the full extent of the problem. Get all the details in Leo Hohmann's brand new book "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad," available now in hard copy or e-book at the WND Superstore.

Leo Hohmann, a veteran WND news editor who focuses primarily on immigration and Islam, agreed with the idea that Austria already has been conquered in a way.

"The fact that a national leader feels he can even get away with suggesting that non-Muslim women in his country may at some point need to wear an Islamic headscarf proves that his country is already conquered spiritually and mentally, if not physically," he said.

"The freedom-loving people of Austria, if there are any left, should make plans to leave, because their president's comments are a signal that their physical conquest cannot be far away."

Hohmann, who authored "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and the Resettlement Jihad," pointed out some high-profile liberal Western women have donned a hijab to mollify Muslims. In 2014, Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges wore a hijab when she met with leaders of her city's Somali Muslim community.

"She said it was a sign of 'respect,' but to the Islamic mindset it is a sign of her submission to Islam," Hohmann recalled.

Hillary Clinton has also worn a hijab on previous overseas trips, as have Britain's Kate Middleton and the late Princess Diana.

In his remarks before the students, Van der Bellen seemed to suggest wearing a hijab is an appealing style option for women.

The president stated: "It is every woman's right to dress exactly as she pleases. That is my opinion on this. And by the way, not just Muslim women: every woman can wear a headscarf."

Philip Haney, a former Department of Homeland Security officer who specialized in Islamic theology, thinks Van der Bellen is missing the boat on the meaning of the hijab.

"Apparently, President Van der Bellen doesn't care that hijabs are not merely benign, harmless expressions of feminine modesty, self-determination and self-empowerment, but are actually required by Islamic Shariah, which is violently opposed to many other freedoms we enjoy in the West," Haney told WND. "Is there a single country in the Islamic world where women enjoy the liberties and freedoms we take for granted here in the West?

"It is also an ominous warning sign that President Van der Bellen seems to believe that the only way to maintain the rights and freedoms of women in Austria is to literally force them to submit to Islamic Shariah, rather than insisting that Muslims who immigrate to Austria, and the EU, assimilate into the culture of their host country."

Haney, co-author of "See Something, Say Nothing: A Homeland Security Officer Exposes the Government's Submission to Jihad," warned the Austrian president to avoid the temptation to appease radical Islam.

"It appears that Western leaders are so severely blinded by their fear of being called racist Islamophobes that they are willing to sacrifice their own values, and their own countrymen, on the altar of appeasement and compromise," Haney said.

"Apparently, President Van der Bellen has forgotten the price we paid a generation ago, when the world tried to appease an Austrian-born tyrant named Adolf Hitler. Wearing swastikas in solidarity with Hitler would not have appeased him then, and wearing hijabs (headscarves) won't help appease the tyrannical practitioners of Shariah now."