samsamsam said:
So am I off on this? They are Austrian by descent, correct. Their families are not from the Middle East, right?
Kesinovic and Selimovic - Don't sound Middle Eastern.
They were second or third generation Bosnian Muslims. Bosnians used to follow a pretty relaxed and moderate interpretation of Islam, but during the Balcan Wars in the 90s some Saudi-funded Jihadists started to operate there. When the country finally came to a rest in the early 2000s, the Saudis and Qataris carefully moved in, generously funding mosques and cultural centers, with foreign Imams and teachers trying to spread their version of Islam, Salafiya. At the same time, a lot of people rediscovered and embraced their religious roots and Muslim identity after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, later also trying to differentiate themselves from the hated Serbs, who are Orthodox Christians. As a result the country has become
noticeably more conservative during the last 15 years.
The Bosnians we have in Austria usually came here to escape the wars, they tend to have a more liberal (old Yugoslavian) attitude, and you can see some stunning girls amongst them. The ones that are born here seem however more susceptible to conservative/islamic influence, helped by the internet and satellite tv I guess. It's not unusual for the children to be more religious than the generation of their parents. Especially if they struggle in their lives, they tend to develop an Us vs. Them mentality then, finding a sense of purpose and identity, and in the end superiority, in rejecting their new home country's culture and values, which they blame for their own problems and shortcomings.
Those girls started to visit a certain mosque in the district I live at in Vienna, having been brought there by some Chechen friends. It is well known for its fundamentalist teachings, and a recruitment center for Jihadists in Austria. They get a commission for every person sent to Isis, and they know exactly what to look for, confused and irrational teenagers in need of guidance naturally being prime targets. All of that is well known but unofficial, and hard to prove, with our police lacking the necessary evidence to act.