Czech Pres. Won't Apologize for Ripping Islam; Said Islam Ideology Is Basis for Anti-Semitism

Czech President Milos Zeman will not apologize for his recent statement linking the Islamic ideology with violence, his spokesman Jiri Ovcacek told the Czech News Agency today (June 11, 2014), reacting to critics' demands that Zeman apologize, the Prague Post website reports.

The apology is claimed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), indignant at the statements Zeman made at the May 27 celebration of the Israeli Independence Day in Prague.

Zeman -- commenting on a previous attack in the Jewish Museum in Brussels, Belgium -- said the Islamic ideology is behind similarly motivated violent attacks.

"I will not be calmed down by statements that it is only small marginal groups. I believe, on the contrary, that this xenophobia and this racism or anti-Semitism stem from the very nature of the ideology, on which these fanatic groups rely," Zeman said.