Czech Republic: Ecumenical prayer against Islamophobes to take place in České Budějovice tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday 14 March, the "We Don’t Want Islam in the Czech Republic" initiative will hold yet another demonstration, this time on Přemysl Otakar II. Square in the town of České Budějovice. In the Facebook announcement of the event, organizers led by Martin Konvička are tempting people to come by saying the event will feature the sale of propaganda items and refreshments and are attempting to ensure a big turnout by arranging for participants to drive there together.  

The event will take place exactly one month after a previous such demonstration in Brno. As in Brno, there will also be a "counter-demonstration" tomorrow called "Don’t Let Fear Dictate Our Actions" (Nenechme si diktovat strachem).

The counter-demonstration is not an event convened by political entities. Its organizers are calling on their Facebook page for an "ecumenical prayer for peaceful coexistence of all people irrespective of ethnicity, faith, nationality or political convictions" and for a discussion on the topic of religious extremism to take place afterward at the Horká Vana cultural club.  

Only 100 people have confirmed their attendance on Facebook at the "counter-demonstration" compared to 700 confirmed demonstrators for the "We Don’t Want Islam in the Czech Republic" action. Two opposing demonstrations on the topic of Islam also took place in Prague in January.  

Czech Senator Tomio Okamura appeared at the Prague demonstration of "We Don’t Want Islam in the Czech Republic" and called on participants to defend the Czech Republic against the ideology of Islam, which he claims is incompatible with democratic principles. The counter-demonstration in Prague by an anti-hate association included Romani activist Ivana Čonková and the evangelicaly clergyman Mikuláš Vymětal, who jointly held a so-called Czech-Romani flag, as a result of which they were taken to a police station.