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We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic

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(Redirected from Bloc Against Islam)
We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic
Founded2009
FocusAnti-Islam campaigning
Location
Key people
Martin Konvička
Websiteivcrn.cz

We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic (Czech: Islám v České republice nechceme, IVČRN) is a Czech anti-Islam organisation led by Martin Konvička, founded in 2009.[1] The Czech Ministry of the Interior has described the initiative as an Islamophobic populist entity which is attempting to take advantage of the rise of anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant sentiment. According to the ministry, it intentionally uses information that is taken out of context, misinterpreted or generalised.[2][3]

History

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Activists for IVČRN, including Martin Konvička in 2015
Demonstration by Bloc Against Islam and Dawn – National Coalition in 2015

IVČRN was created in July 2009 as a discussion community on Facebook, with a few hundred users. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the platform was created as a transformation of the pre-existing Czech Defence League (CzDL), based on the English Defence League, which was assessed as extremist and subsequently disappeared.[3] The group draws ideologically from the counter-jihad movement.[4]

The group's Facebook page has been banned several times, first in 2014 when it had 162,000 followers, and then in 2016, when it had 73,000 followers.[5][6] The original page with 162,000 followers was restored in December 2016.[7]

Bloc Against Islam

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On 17 November 2015, the closely associated group Bloc Against Islam (Czech: Blok proti islámu, BPI) held a rally that was attended by President Miloš Zeman, who also spoke at the event.[8]

On 6 February 2016, thousands of people attended a demonstration co-organised by IVČRN, the German group Pegida, and the political party Dawn – National Coalition, which was the largest anti-Islam demonstration held in the Czech Republic.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Čulík, Jan (21 August 2015). "Prague springs to intolerance". Politico.
  2. ^ "Extremismus. Souhrnná situační zpráva 3.čtvrtletí roku 2015" (in Czech). Czech Ministry of the Interior. 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Extremismus. Souhrnná situační zpráva 4.čtvrtletí roku 2015" (in Czech). Czech Ministry of the Interior. 2015.
  4. ^ Nissen, Anita (2022). Europeanisation of the Contemporary Far Right: Generation Identity and Fortress Europe. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 9781000547085.
  5. ^ "Facebook opět zakázal antiislámskou stránku. Češce hrozili za pomoc Afghánci smrtí". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 9 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Facebook zablokoval stránku Islám v České republice nechceme, šíří nenávist i xenofobii". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 1 November 2016.
  7. ^ Ryšavý, Zdeněk (12 December 2016). "Facebook obnovil původní stránku Islám v České republice nechceme se 160 tisíci fanoušky". Romea.cz (in Czech).
  8. ^ "Ať žije Zeman, skandoval dav. Prezident si na akci odpůrců islámu užil potlesk a ovace". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). November 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "My jsme tady doma, skandovali demonstranti proti islámu před Hradem". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 6 February 2016.