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Help Advocates for Palestinian Rights Facing Unjust Lawsuit in Austria
Help Advocates for Palestinian Rights Facing Unjust Lawsuit in Austria

9.529 €

Raised

Donations

12.000 €

Goal

BDS Austria – a group of Palestinian rights advocates – is facing a lawsuit by the Municipality of Vienna that aims at silencing them and seriously threatens the fundamental right to freedom of expression. With lawyer Elisabetta Folliero and the support of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), the group is now challenging the Regional Courts decision before the Austrian Supreme Court, which is charging them with “inciting hatred” and further payments of €3,500 in damages and €8,200 in legal costs. 

 

This comes after a long legal battle of appeals starting in 2021, that has already cost the defendant more than €10,000. 

 

Help us fight injustice and intimidation and gather enough money to face the legal costs of the lawsuit and potential damages!  

 

Below is a brief overview of what has transpired since the beginning of this case: 


- November 2021: BDS Austria received a legal notice from the Municipality of Vienna, which had filed a lawsuit for a social media post. 

The group was then amongst those who shared an image (see below) of a “Visit Apartheid” poster stuck to a billboard in August 2021, alongside the sarcastic caption: “We are glad that the City of Vienna also recognizes apartheid and publicly states it”.   


The poster shared by the BDS Austria social media platforms was an adaptation of the iconic “Visit Palestine” poster designed in 1936 by Austrian marketer, Franz Krausz. The poster has since come to symbolise the historic context of the struggle for recognition and basic rights for the Palestinian people and was revived and reclaimed by Palestinians. 



The Municipality claimed it as defamatory, and accused the BDS movement of “inciting hatred against Israeli people.”  

The City based its claim on an anti-democratic resolution that smears the BDS movement and contradicts with European and international Human Rights standards, such as exposed in a legal opinion commissioned by the ELSC and signed by renowned scholars.  


- April 2022: the judge ruled in favor of the City of Vienna and ordered that the BDS activists must no longer use the logo of the City of Vienna in connection with any publication or public statement. They appealed. To add to its shameful affront to democracy and fundamental rights, the Municipality of Vienna has proposed the activists a settlement requesting them to pay more than 17.000 euros - the total amount of damages previously asked plus legal fees! 

 

- May 2022: UN Special Rapporteurs also raised their concerns over the lawsuit and recalled the legality and legitimacy of the BDS movement in a communication sent to the Austrian authorities. Read more here: https://elsc.support/news/four-un-special-rapporteurs-address-their-concerns-to-austrian-authorities-about-anti-bds-resolution-and-lawsuit-against-activist 

 

- July 2023: a hearing for the main proceeding took place with the same judge who issued the problematic decision of April 2022, which completely endorsed the anti-Palestinian arguing of the Municipality of Vienna. 

 

- 2024: Despite our appeals, the court in Vienna rejected our case in January, and the Regional Court reaffirmed this decision in July, imposing a further payment of €3,500 in damages and €8,200 in legal costs. 


- September 2024: Elisabetta Folliero, lawyer and member of he ELSC's legal network, is now appealing the Regional Court's decision at the Austrian Supreme Court to defend BDS Austria’s right to freedom of expression.


How we will use your donation

 

The total cost of the lawsuit could amount to €35.000, depending on the outcome of the hearing.  

All funds donated to this case have been used to cover the ongoing costs of this case.  

The legal fees born by the BDS Austria activists so far amounted to € 12,600. In case our appeal is, again, rejected, they may have to face further proceedings and, eventually, have to pay additional legal fees that could amount up to €20.000 more than the costs already stated above, including the damages requested by the City of Vienna (€ 3500) and the City of Vienna’s legal fees (€ 8,200 so far but likely to almost double).


In order to protect fundamental rights for Palestinian rights advocates in Austria, we could go up to the European Court of Human rights! Help us protect our collective rights to freedom of expression! 


About BDS Austria


BDS Austria was created in 2014 as part of the Palestinian civil society-led BDS movement. Based on the experience of activists who challenged South-African Apartheid, the movement uses non-violent means to demand the end of the systematic oppression and discrimination of Palestinians, in line with international law and universal human rights principles. What BDS Austria stands for is solidarity and justice. 

 

 

“We at BDS Austria, are people from a wide variety of backgrounds and socializations are involved. ... We are all united by the desire to end the ongoing oppression and discrimination against Palestinians, so that all people in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories can live in their homeland with equal rights and dignity, regardless of religious or other affiliations. We are also united by the conviction or belief that the BDS campaign is an effective, peaceful and non-violent means to achieve this goal.” 



Share the latest updates on X and Instagram

 

In order to succeed the next steps, we need your help and solidarity to secure extra costs related to lawyer fees and Court fees. 


Read more information on the lawsuit on the ELSC website.


Sign this petition co-sponsored by the ECCP (European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine) to put pressure on the Municipality of Vienna.