PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) _ Neo-Nazis trying to march
through the Jewish quarter of Prague have clashed with
self-proclaimed anti-fascists, and at least 250 people were
arrested in outbreaks of violence around the capital.
Police also seized weapons Saturday, including a gas gun,
axes and sticks at scattered sites as the extremists tried
to reach the Jewish quarter, police spokesman Ladislav
Bernasek said.
At least six people, including one policeman, suffered
head injuries, said Prague rescue service spokeswoman
Jirina Ernestova.
The march had been scheduled to take place just a day
after the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 1938 night of
terror when the Nazis attacked synagogues and Jewish homes
and businesses throughout Germany and parts of Austria.
The march was banned, and about 1,400 policemen were
deployed in the capital, including riot police and officers
on horses. Equipped with armored vehicles and water
cannons, they sealed off most of the historic Jewish
quarter.
In a major clash downtown, a group of about two dozen
neo-Nazis was attacked by self-proclaimed antifascists who
said were in the streets to prevent the march, Bernasek
said.
About 50 left-wing extremists attacked police with cobble
stones in another area.
More than 250 people were detained around the city,
including 10 German-speaking left-wing extremists armed
with sticks, Bernasek said.
Bernasek said police continued to monitor the movement of
a several hundred neo-Nazi extremists across the capital
but they had begun to disperse.
Jewish leaders and Czech politicians condemned the planned
march as an insult to the victims of the Holocaust.
Hundreds of Jews and others gathered in the historic
Jewish quarter to commemorate the Nazi pogrom, protest the
march and be ready, if it went ahead, to prevent it from
going through the Jewish quarter.
We are here Ťto protest attempts of neo-Nazi groups to
publicly promote anti-Semitic, racist and other abusive
ideas,ť said Jiri Danicek, head of the federation of
Jewish communities.
The organizers were the Young National Democrats, which is
linked to the National Resistance, a neo-Nazi group. They
said their intention was to protest the deployment of Czech
troops in Iraq and they pledged to defy the ban.
ŤWe came here to show our support for the Czech Jewish
community, why we're against all these anti-Semitism and
neo-Nazis,ť said Allan Silverman, 61, from Huntington
Beach, California, who was visiting Prague with his wife
Barbara and learned about the gathering.
ŤThey're picking a very holy day, a very sad day in
Jewish history and we fell we need to support the Czech
community against anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism.ť (less info)