Analysis: Weekend surge of anti-Roma hatred in the Czech Republic part of larger cycle

The "Let’s Block the Marches!" (Blokujeme!) platform, of which the Konexe association is a proud member, has just made it through yet another busy weekend. Together we have stood up to demonstrations aiming to spark hatred in four towns – on Friday in Ostrava, and on Saturday (St. Wenceslas Day) in Krupka, Prague and Vítkov –  suffering one defeat, one draw and two overwhelming victories.  

In Ostrava, the racists met up at Náměstí Slovenského národního povstání (Slovak National Uprising Square), where an electoral rally of the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS) was set to take place a few dozen meters away from the Romani-occupied residential hotel on Čujkovova Street. It was clear that the residential hotel would be targeted by the mob should anti-Romani violence break out.

Ostrava-based activists with the "Let’s Block the Marches!" platform convened a properly announced assembly of their own in the space between the square and the residential hotel. This is something we have done several times in the past and basically uses the human shield tactic.

That assembly was disrupted by a group of antigypsyists who verbally assaulted the anti-racist activists and seriously violated their sense of personal safety. The anti-racist gathering was then dispersed by a man who said he was the vice-mayor of Ostrava, even though there was no formal legal reason to disperse it and he gave no legal justification for his decision. 

A street battle then broke out between the police and the racists. The mob of those attending the DSSS rally attempted to break through the police cordon defending the residential hotel. 

When the racists did not succeed in breaking through, they divided up into smaller groups, attempting to fight through to the residential hotel by constantly attacking the police officers at random. The battle did not calm down until it was night.

The psychological aftermath of this event for the Romani community in Ostrava is serious, as are the repercussions for inter-ethnic coexistence there. Hatred won on Friday in Ostrava. 

On Saturday about 100 neo-Nazis and their friends met up on Wenceslas Square in Prague. The organization of this demonstration, as well as the intellectual level of its speeches, was of a higher level than what we have been accustomed to at most of the other neo-Nazi demonstrations.

The speech-givers, who were intellectuals, spoke less in the language of primitive anti-Romani hatred and more about the ideological background from which such hatred is spawned. Nearby on Jungmannovo Square, Green Party and Romani anti-racist activists gathered to express their disagreement with the neo-Nazis and made their own speeches.     

In Vítkov, where the neo-Nazis almost burned a little Romani girl named Natálka to death a few years ago, almost no local antigypsyists attended Saturday’s DSSS rally. However, several dozen local Romani people turned out to listen to DSSS chair Vandas, accompanied by the stalwart activist Ivanka Mariposa Čonková. The neo-Nazis decided not to prolong the fiasco and left quickly.    

In Krupka, several hundred people gathered at the entrance to the Romani-occupied Maršov housing estate, both activists from all over the Czech Republic and Germany as well as housing estate residents. A clergyman spoke about the brotherhood of man and hatred, and local musicians performed.   

A theater performance was then held for the children. There were no speeches, but everything essential was rapped about in the lyrics of the hip hop group De La Negra, who mostly perform in places where neo-Nazis are marching and who gave their first concert in their home town on Saturday.

The neo-Nazis from the "Czech Lions" (Čeští lvi) group first delayed their march to the Maršov housing estate and then completely cancelled it. The anti-racist assembly turned into a happy street festival.

Anti-Romani demonstrations are taking place in cycles

The events of this weekend were certainly an important chapter in this year’s season of hateful anti-Romani demonstrations and the anti-racist movement in the Czech Republic is taking away valuable experiences from them, as well as many questions. It seems the anti-Romani demonstrations are taking place here in cycles or in waves.

We are probably close to the peak of the third such wave at this point. The first wave of anti-Romani demonstrations and marches unleashed an attempted pogrom on the Romani residents of the Janov housing estate in the town of Litvínov in November 2008 and lasted until April 2009, when it ended with a march by neo-Nazis in Ústí nad Labem and the arson attack in Vítkov, which took place on the same night as the Ústí march. 

The third wave began with the anti-Romani march in Nový Bydžov in Spring 2011, when a series of anti-Romani demonstrations came to a head in the Šluknov foothills at the end of the summer, and ended when cooler fall weather made demonstrations inappropriate. The current, third wave began this past spring and has not yet ended, but may end after the elections with the arrival of winter.

It seems that each such wave significantly deteriorates the position of the Romani minority in the Czech Republic, increases anti-Romani sentiment, and also moves back the border of what is still considered "normal" by the rest of society. Each wave has significantly increased inter-ethnic tensions in the Czech Republic and been stronger and worse than its predecessor – and the intervals between the waves are shortening.

One of the reasons for anti-Romani sentiment and for the anti-Romani demonstrations is the failure of social integration policy in the Czech Republic after 1989, both the current and past strategies and tools for that policy. The situation of Romani people is deteriorating, and Romani poverty and social inclusion are intensifying.

The economic and social situation of the majority society is also deteriorating. People are losing their sense of security, and confidence in mainstream political parties and in the political system itself is falling.

Traditional ideals about equality among people, human rights, and solidarity are losing importance during these hard times. Many people believe a strong-arm government might be able to address the current state of affairs.

Others are seeking a scapegoat for their frustrations. So – will the spring of 2013 bring us another, fourth wave of anti-Romani demonstrations as the weather warms?

Who surfs on the waves of hate?

Elections to the lower house of parliament will take place at the end of October. It is very disturbing to see the electoral preferences being shown the DSSS, which according to some surveys in some regions is closing in on reaching the 5 % threshold needed to enter the lower house.

The notion that neo-Nazis might be sitting in the Czech Parliament is definitely an unseemly one, but far less of a turnout for them would also be enough to serve their aims. Should the DSSS exceed the 1.5 % threshold, it will receive a state contribution in the amount of around CZK 8 million. 

Should that electoral result be higher, the amount of state financing for the party will increase exponentially. This would come at a moment when the neo-Nazi movement is grappling with a lack of financing.

Today the neo-Nazis don’t have the money they need to cover their overhead, lease podiums and sound equipment, print fliers and promotional materials, and travel as they wish. The DSSS also doesn’t have much to offer the voters.

The party is offering only antigypsyism, which it is exploiting as much as it can. Anti-Romani oriented events are the basis of its promotional strategy.

The party is succeeding in reaching voters and winning them over through this generally widespread anti-Romani hatred. This year’s wave of anti-Romani demonstrations and marches has shown that even with minimal financing, they are managing to unleash real hell.

If the neo-Nazis win state money for their activities, it is almost certain they will use it to feed, finance and unleash more waves of anti-Romani marches starting in the spring of 2014, which will serve as their campaign for the elections that await us next year. However, the events around the rise of the "Let’s Block the Marches!" platform give hope that Czech civil society is waking up and starting to respond to this wave of hate.

Many engaged individuals and institutions have newly joined these activities against antigypsyism and neo-Nazism. International support for them is rising as well – for example, on Saturday the anti-racist assembly in Krupka was supported by dozens of activists from Germany.

At least three dangerous anti-Romani demonstrations will soon be kicking off here – one in Duchcov, one in Ústí nad Labem, and yet another in Ostrava. After this there may be a period of calm during which we can prepare for the hot electoral spring of 2014.

Miroslav Brož is a founding member of the Konexe civic association.