Here is just an example which shows that people can make a difference, if they unite and stand up against radical extremists… I think the message is clear…
this is a recap of recent events:
Neo-Nazis fail to march through Prague’s Jewish Quarter
Prague authorities had been embroiled in a dispute with fringe groups since early October, when the Mladi narodni demokrate (Young National Democrats, or MND), which is connected to the neo-Nazi network in the Czech Republic, applied to hold a march in the city’s Jewish quarter ostensibly protesting the war in Iraq.
Around three thousand people gathered at several places in the former Jewish Town on Saturday to block the march, and the police foiled any attempts of the far-right groups to come near the area. The event ended in isolated clashes between far-right and far-left radicals….. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/97472
An expected confrontation with neo-Nazi marchers in Prague’s Old Town Saturday never materialized as approximately 1,400 police with riot gear, horses, some very mean-looking vehicles and even a helicopter kept the extremists out of the Jewish Quarter and made sure any potential clash would be short-lived indeed. Thousands of counter-demonstrators did show up, including some anarchists who looked a bit scary themselves, along with plenty of curious, camera-wielding onlookers…. more
Neo-Nazi groups plan revenge for Kristallnacht fiasco
The failure of neo-Nazis to march through Prague’s Jewish quarter - and the subsequent skirmishes between skinheads and anarchist demonstrators
- have certainly dominated the headlines in recent days. Images of battered and bloodied skinheads being taken away by police were flashed around the world’s media, who described Saturday as a fiasco for the far right. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/97518
Protests in Prague
A number of protests and demonstrations took place in Prague on the country’s state holiday. Right wing extremists met on Palacky Square to protest against the actions of the police last weekend when they prevented neo-Nazis from marching through Prague’s Jewish quarter on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews. The ultra-right protesters symbolically buried “freedom of speech” in a funeral casket and quietly dispersed. Trade unions likewise held a gathering in the center of Prague. The police were out in force to maintain law and order.
Police sued over clampdown on neo-Nazi rally
Police involved in the clampdown on a neo-Nazi rally in Prague city center a fortnight ago are to face legal action. Prague lawyer Klara Slamova has lodged a criminal complaint against the police force which detained several hundred neo-Nazis on their way to a protest in the city’s Jewish quarter on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogrom. Mrs Slamova has also brought charges against Prague Mayor Pavel Bem and his deputy Rudolf Blazek. She maintains that city councilors abused their power when they banned the neo-Nazi march, and that police curtailed protesters’ personal freedom when they clamped down on the rally… more: Testing Freedom’s Limits
… yeah right…
update:
Christians to meet before neo-Nazi march through Plzen
Plzen, West Bohemia, Jan 9 (CTK) - Czech Christians will commemorate the 1942 transport of Jews from Plzen to the concentration camp on January 18, a day before right-wing radicals are going to march through Plzen, Karel Simr, for the organisers, told CTK Wednesday.
On January 18 Christians will meet for a prayer in the St. Bartolomew Cathedral at Plzen’s main square.
The next day Christians will attend a commemorative assembly outside the Great Synagogue in Plzen to express solidarity with Jewish citizens, Simr said.
On January 18, 1942, the first transport of Plzen Jews to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) ghetto and internment camp in north Bohemia took place. Further transports followed on January 22 and January 26.
A total of 2605 Jews were transported to Terezin then, and only 112 of them returned home after World War Two.
The right-wing extremists are planning to march through Plzen on January 19. They say it is a reaction to the police intervention against a neo-Nazi march through Prague’s Jewish Town last November.
The Plzen Town Hall has not banned the January 19 march.
About 150 radicals are expected to come and they are likely to be armed.
Many people and organisations, including Jewish communities, however, view the rally as an event offending and mocking the Holocaust victims.
The extremists also planned to stage another march through Plzen on January 26, but this one has been banned.
The January 19 extremists’ march has been condemned by some civic associations and Jewish communities as well as politicians from several parties in parliament.
Some organisations are planning protests against the march.
This story is from the Czech News Agency (?TK).
German neo-Nazis want to take part in Plze? march
Plzen, West Bohemia, Jan 14 (CTK) - German neo-Nazis are calling on the German ultra-right discussion forum thiazi.net for participation in a march through Plzen planned for January 19, Plzen police spokeswoman Jana Vaclavova has said, adding the police are monitoring several such calls on the internet.
The German neo-Nazis invite German “free, social and national” friends and say that they expect police manoeuvres to be held in Plzen.
The Czech police say it is not clear how many German neo-Nazis will arrive, but they estimate their numbers to minimally count by hundreds.
They have already asked colleagues from Bavaria and Saxony for help.
“The Plzen Resistance organises a demo against curtailing freedom of expression and opinions in Plzen on Saturday, January 19. The date has already caused panic in the Jewish-controlled media because the first transport from the Jewish ghetto in Terezin (north Bohemia) left on January 18, 1942,” the neo-Nazis write on their web site. …..more
