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We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic

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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 organisation led by Martin Konvička which campaigns against Islam.[1] In reports on extremism, the Czech Ministry of the Interior described the initiative as an Islamophobic populist entity that is trying 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[edit]

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

The IVČRN initiative was created in July 2009 as a community of debaters on Facebook, at that time the group had only a few hundred users. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the IVČRN platform was created by transformation from the original group Czech Defence League (CzDL), which was assessed as extremist and subsequently disappeared; the model for the CzDL group was the English organisation English Defense League,[3] and it 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, at a time when it had 73,000 followers.[5][6] The original page with 162,000 followers was restored in December 2016.[7]

Bloc Against Islam[edit]

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 held a speech at the event on the day of struggle for freedom and democracy in commemoration of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks.[8]

On 6 February 2016, thousands of people attended a demonstration by the group, co-organised by the German group Pegida, along with the political party Dawn – National Coalition, making it the largest demonstration up to that time against Islam organized in the Czech Republic.[9]

References[edit]

  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.
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