Demonstration TODAY in Prague: "Nationalism is No Alternative", organized by the "No to Racism!" Initiative

The “No to Racism!” Initiative (Ne rasismu!), which describes itself as an anti-fascist student organization, will be holding a demonstration in Prague today to draw attention to the fact that mainstream politics is constantly shifting rightward toward authoritarianism and populism, and that racism is becoming the norm in Czech society. The demonstration will begin at 10 AM in front of the main train station.

“It is precisely the political mainstream who are moving political practice continually to the right, toward authoritarianism and populism. Inciting a sense of threat reliably works as an instrument for drawing attention away from real problems. In an atmosphere of fear, much less attention is paid to issues such as the absence of social housing, or low wages, or the underfinancing of important sectors like education and health care. Populist rhetoric pushes the problems of people in actual material deprivation to the back burner and focuses on creating abstract threats,” the initiative’s press release says.

Through this event, the initiative also wants to draw attention to the fact that this rising nationalism is acquiring its legitimacy through the remarks made by top political representatives. “It seems to no longer be a problem when the Vice Prime Minister doubts the Romani Holocaust and speaks of Romani people as those who don’t want to work. It seems to already be normal for the Interior Minister to say the Czech Republic will not receive a single refugee, and for his subordinate who is responsible for Czech asylum and migration policy to sit on discussion panels side by side with well-known xenophobes calling war refugees ‘economic migrants’ and the efforts of the EU to at least partially address the migration crisis a neo-Marxist experiment,” the intiative’s press release summarizes the atmosphere in Czech politics.

The demonstration on the state holiday of 17 November will begin at 10 AM in front of the main train station in the park there (Vrchlického sady) and will proceed along this route:  Opletalova – Hybernská – Senovážná – Senovážné náměstí – Jindřišská – Vodičkova – Palackého – Jungmannova, ending at 14:00 on Jungmannovo Square. More information is available on the website of the initiative.