Gabal: Attack in Ostrava was evidently the work of extremists
According to sociologist Ivan Gabal, the recent attack in the Bedřiška quarter of Ostrava was most probably the work of extremists. Gabal made his remarks in an interview for the journal Romano voďi, which will be published at the end of March. News server Romea.cz publishes the interview in full below.
You have previously drawn attention to the fact that extremists might target socially excluded localities for attack. Even though we do not yet know whether the attack that took place in the early morning hours of Sunday in the Bedřiška settlement was the work of extremists, what is your assessment?
Judging purely from the method of the attack, the fact that a Molotov cocktail was thrown into a residence, it will probably be found to have been an extremist attack – at least, that is my perception. I do not believe Molotov cocktails “accidentally” fly out of people’s hands in the direction of Roma homes. In my opinion, this was an extremist attack.
My assessment is that there is a need for the repressive steps being taken against the extremists to be kept in place. Active integration programs should also start, particularly in this region. Ethnic tension is a very serious problem, just like social problems in employment, environmental problems, and security – it is related to security.
If these attacks continue, what is your prognosis?
These developments will continue as long as Madame Senator Janáčková continues to close down ethnically mixed schools. We are succeeding for the time being in identifying extremists and bringing them to justice, and I hope we will succeed in every such case.
Ostrava is generally a city with a high number of Roma and a high rate of unemployment. It is also famous for Senator Janáčková’s racist remarks. Why is it important to solve the problem in this particular city?
Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian region are among the areas most burdened by the high number and the particular character of their excluded Roma localities. The region has the most pronounced tendency for such localities to transform themselves into ghettos. This occurs most often in places where the existence of excluded Roma localities combines with other serious structural problems such as unemployment, high crime rates including organized crime, and serious environmental problems such as air pollution and its impact on public health. The Moravian-Silesian region really needs to address the entire package of structural problems so any improvements, any changes for the better, can be felt by the population as a whole. This will reduce social and economic tension overall. If these tensions are not successfully reduced, then we can presume the tendency toward extreme reactions will grow, both from the side of extremist forces and potentially from other sides as well. I believe this is one of the most serious tasks facing city hall, regional authorities, and the Czech Government. If the information I have received is correct, some sort of shared political will to address this problem has at least been generated, whether in the form of strategic governmental documents for addressing excluded localities or from the point of view of the growing attention being paid to the problem of air quality and the social and structural questions facing the region as a whole. I know these matters take a long time to address and solutions can’t be implemented from one day to the next, but this attack shows that closing elementary schools, which is the path Senator Janáčková chose, only leads to an intensification of these conflicts. I want to believe the Ostrava City Hall, the regional authorities, the governor, and the Czech Government will head in the opposite direction. This attack occurred in a neighborhood in which an unsuccessful elementary school was stupidly closed and sold off. I consider that to be a symbolic coincidence which should be a warning to us all.
