25-07-2015 13:50 | Jan Velinger Around 200 people took part in a demonstration at a popular park in Teplice on Friday to protest against the presence of visitors from Arab countries who vacation at the local spa resorts or have bought property in the area. Many of the protestors brought their dogs, charging that the park had been taken over by the foreigners, and accusing them of leaving areas in "disarray" or of behaving inappropriately. The event was attended by politician Tomio Okamura as well as members of anti-Islam initiatives and even members of extremist groups, sources reported. Some opponents of the demonstration, such as Teplice councillor Dominik Feri, have called for a constructive dialogue on the issue and for locals to "not allow themselves be manipulated by extremists".
MfD: Arabs cleaning town to have good relations with Czechs
Prague, Aug 7 (CTK) - The Arabs staying in the spa of the Teplice, north Bohemia, are cleaning up the local area to ease the tension between them and local residents, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes Friday.
This week, the Arabs staged the second cleaning of the Sanovsky park in which they often practice picnicking, MfD writes.
In recent weeks, some Teplice residents protested against the Arabs making disorder in the area.
The "act of reconciliation" is to repeat, MfD writes.
In addition, picnics at which the Arabs are to make friends with locals are to be staged, it adds.
"We want Teplice residents to learn the culture of the spa guests and vice versa," organiser Eman Ghaleb, a 17-year girl born in Yemen, who has been living in Teplice since 2003, told the paper.
"This will prevent further misunderstandings," Ghaleb said.
Football pitches are to be leased so that the children of the Middle East visitors do not threaten people walking in the park by their playing football, MfD writes.
"We will insist on the maintenance of order and night calm, asking the spa guests to follow suit," Ghaleb said.
The relationships between the spa guests from the Middle East and the Teplice residents are being dealt with not only in the streets and social networks, but also on the diplomatic level, MfD writes.
Earlier this week, ambassador of Kuwait Ayman Muhammad Al-Adsani agreed with Teplice officials on continuing the practice that proved well last year already, it adds.
"We will pass again information on the clients who breach the rules in Teplice to the Kuwaiti side," Deputy Mayor Hynek Hanza has told the paper.
"They can expect punishment back in Kuwait," he added.
"They were fined in Teplice and after their return to Kuwait, they were stripped of their driving licences. Kuwaiti authorities even restricted further travels abroad to some of them," Hanza said.
Copyright 2015 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). All rights reserved. http://praguemonitor.com/2015/08/10/mfd-arabs-cleaning-town-have-good-relations-czechs
Czech town tries to smooth out relations with Arab guests
A Czech spa town is trying to heal rifts between Arab guests and the local community after misunderstandings on dogs, noise complaints and a failed burqa ban soured relations.
Thousands of Arabs patients come to live in the town for several weeks or months during the season, often with family members in tow.
But in recent years, tensions have risen between perceived differences between the cultures and style of living of locals and the spa guests from the Gulf states - with particular complaints about rubbish left in the park, noise at night and a lack of respect for a Czech's best friend: the dog.
Volunteers from the local Islamic community - mostly doctors and spa workers - have taken it upon themselves to try to heal the tensions by distributing information leaflets.
Volunteer, Dr. Mohammed Ghaleb: "The dog is part of the family in the Czech Republic and so we wrote in the leaflet what it means - like when you hurt the dog it is like when you hurt someone in the family. They didn't know that. So we inform them this way."
The leaflets are also stuck into the shop windows of the Arabic markets. Ghaleb's daughter, Imman, said that she believes they are getting their message across.
Volunteer Imma N Ghaleb: "The main effect which our effort has is that the people note this and that they speak about it during their picnics. When they see us, they know who we are and what our aim is."
But the amount of rubbish still building up in the park despite regular cleaning and the volunteers has reached an unacceptable stage, says the town hall. It plans to introduce a spa fee of about EUR 0,60 per person a day to cover the increased costs for cleaning the city.
http://uatoday.tv/society/czech-town-tries-to-smooth-out-realtions-with-arab-guests-479946.html
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