Abstrakt
The most important development in 2017 is the firm establishment of parties espousing Islamophobic and xenophobic views in the Czech parliament following the October general elections. Out of the first six parties that gained most votes only one could be considered neutral to favourable when it comes to issues such as refugee quotas and generally a more tolerant approach to diversity in society.
The winning party ANO, led by a tycoon turned politician, which is difficult to classify as either left or right, is known for supporting and promoting the views of Czech President Miloš Zeman, who is notorious for his Islamophobic views, which have been documented in the previous reports. The fourth ranked party, Freedom and Direct Democracy, led by Tomio Okamura, a Japanese - Czech politician, has an exclusive agenda of xenophobia and Islamophobia illustrated by the party election slogan, "No to Islam, No to Terrorism," and campaigns continuously for the legal ban of Islam.
The party recycles the Islamophobic view that Islam is not a religion and therefore doesn't deserve constitutional protection under the freedom of denomination. Okamura's party wasn't only successful in the elections but he became vice-chair of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
His approach continues the process of endangering freedoms currently guaranteed by the Czech Constitution. A citizen filed a complaint with the Highest Administrative Court alleging, among others, that slogans such as "No to Islam" and "Stop Islam" are "unrealistic and breach constitutional principles." Her complaint was rejected with the explanation that the logic of political marketing allows for a hyperbolic approach during the election campaign.1 The Constitutional Court is yet to decide on her complaint.
Thus, we might conclude that Islamophobia has gone mainstream and is a part of the official policy of the Czech political establishment. Particularly extreme forms of Islamophobia are still found online and there's an ongoing discussion on how to deal with hate speech.
It is necessary to engage with civil society, which seems to be the only line of defence against all forms of racism including Islamophobia, and insist on more diversity in the media, plus support those relatively rare politicians and public figures who speak against Islamophobia.