Mosque demonstration fizzles

A gathering of supporters of the extreme right National Party in Brno to distribute leaflets warning against what the party termed as "Islamization" was dismissed as a media ploy in the run up to the October election.

Eight party followers met outside the Brno mosque just after 1 p.m. Aug. 29 to protest plans for the construction of a new mosque, though National Party official Jiří Gaudin denied there was ever meant to be a rally.

"There were never any plans for a march," Gaudin said. "We dispersed ourselves in small groups to the neighboring streets and distributed about 2,500 leaflets. The National Party followers responded to some biased and substandard questions from journalists and explained that no march was going to take place because it had not been called in the first place."

Munib Hasan, a spokesman for the Brno Muslim community, said last month that Muslims would like to have a larger building for prayer as the existing place of worship was no longer sufficient for their growing numbers.

"The Brno mosque has been here for years, and, now, we need a bigger space," he said. "There haven't been any problems so far, and I hope there won't be any in the future ... I don't see a reason why anyone should be against a new mosque. There are a number of Muslims living here peacefully. I believe that the National Party is attempting to catch the media's attention before the upcoming election."

There was no incident during the protest.

"We did not particularly notice any demonstrators," Hasan said. "It passed quickly and quietly. There was more media coverage than demonstrators."

Lukáš Lhoťan, chairman of the civic group Libertas Independent Agency, said the rallies staged by the National Party "were nothing but acts of desperation" and that the National Party was trying to create the impression that they are supported by the Brno public.

But Ivo Strejček, an ODS MEP, spoke out against the mosque on his Web site.

"Absolutely not! Can you imagine building a Christian church in Tehran?" he said. "It is not the time to be politically correct, and it is necessary to acknowledge that our civilization is losing the battle with aggressive Islam. It is necessary to refuse the argument of European leftist madmen who proclaim the policy of multiculturalism. The building of mosques in Europe is the symbol of cultural war, which we are losing."

The Brno mosque was opened 11 years ago, and some 120 Muslims meet in it weekly. Muslims are currently celebrating their holy month, Ramadan, when they are obliged, health permitting, to fast from sunrise to sunset.

Most of the Muslims in the Czech Republic come originally from Bosnia-Herzegovina and former countries of the Soviet Union. The number of Muslims in the Czech Republic is estimated to be slightly more than 10,000.

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com