| We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic | |
| Upright: | yes |
| Founded Date: | 2009 |
| Location: | Czech Republic |
| Key People: | Martin Konvička |
| Focus: | Anti-Islam campaigning |
We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic (Islám v České republice nechceme, IVČRN) is a Czech anti-Islam organisation led by Martin Konvička, founded in 2009.[1] The Czech Ministry of the Interior has described the initiative as an Islamophobic populist entity which is attempting 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]
IVČRN was created in July 2009 as a discussion community on Facebook, with a few hundred users. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the platform was created as a transformation of the pre-existing Czech Defence League (CzDL), based on the English Defence League, which was assessed as extremist and subsequently disappeared.[3] The group 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, when it had 73,000 followers.[5] [6] The original page with 162,000 followers was restored in December 2016.[7]
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 also spoke at the event.[8]
On 6 February 2016, thousands of people attended a demonstration co-organised by IVČRN, the German group Pegida, and the political party Dawn – National Coalition, which was the largest anti-Islam demonstration held in the Czech Republic.[9]