Czech Republic: Blokujeme! platform says it is blocking racist ideas, not people

The Blokujeme! platform has issued the following press release:

Today, Saturday 3 August 2013, Blokujeme! is joining the peaceful assembly being held by the Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí – SRP) in response to the neo-Nazi march in Vítkov today. "We are responding to the restrictions the town hall has placed on the time that our own assembly can take place," said Alica Heráková, press spokesperson for the platform.

"We have met with the mayor and we are cooperating with the police. We expect approximately a few hundred people from all over the Czech Republic to participate in the assembly," Heráková said.

The party’s "happening" will start at noon in the park on Husova Street. "Under no circumstances will we physically block the neo-Nazi march," explained Romani activist Ivana Mariposa Čonková.

"Our aim definitely is not to instigate unrest. We view the opportunity to publicly express our disagreement with anti-Romani marches by right-wing extremists and our disagreement with violence as our civic responsibility. We are not blocking people, we are blocking racist ideas,"  Čonková said.

People in other towns and from abroad have joined the call of the Blokujeme! platform and have announced the following events in support of the non-violent happening in Vítkov:

In Prague, a religious service against hatred at Saint Martin in the Wall Church
In Brno, Fedor Gál’s documentary film "Stories for Natálka" (Příběhy pro Natálku) at the Museum of Roma Culture
In Chotěboř, a ceremony in a local park honoring the Romani victims of the Holocaust
In Bratislava, Slovakia, a "happening" in front of the Czech Embassy in support of the platform

"We greatly appreciate everyone’s support, be it from the organizers of events in other towns or those who joined the platform through our website," Heráková said. "This is proof that society is receptive to the idea of coming together to reject this escalating racial violence, and that is important."