A-Infos (en) Czech, AFED: Riot for Gaza - Report on the Riot Over River winter festival, which took place on February 17 at the Cross club in Prague. (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In recent years, one of the most imaginative charity events in Prague 
has been the Riot Over River festival, which usually takes place twice a 
year in the Cross club in Holeshovice. It is always a multidimensional, 
non-commercial event, where, in addition to music, there are also 
lectures, books and good food. ---- And so we were able to meet "over 
the river" on Saturday, February 17, for the "winter" version of the 
festival and connect with other people who came to have fun and at the 
same time support, as they say, a good cause. That thing was handing 
over the proceeds of the festival, of course after deducting the most 
necessary costs, to Doctors Without Borders in Gaza and the collective 
of the new autonomous center in Prague.

Regarding the center, we will not get ahead of ourselves yet, we will 
just say that it loosely follows on from the link of the Salé and Zdena 
Clinic and Infocenter. Those who were interested could learn more at the 
Shared Spaces lecture, which was part of the lecture block of the festival.

As for the support of Doctors Without Borders, it is, among other 
things, a symbolic expression of opposition to the war waged against the 
population of Gaza. In addition, the organizing team wrote: "It is 
necessary to condemn the heinous attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and 
at the same time to clearly condemn the many years of systematic 
oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government!" It is necessary 
to talk about inequality, suffering and unnecessary sacrifices in 
Palestine! It is necessary to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza 
immediately! Riot Over River is a festival clearly directed against 
racism, fascism and other forms of oppression and chauvinism. Criticism 
of the State of Israel and Zionism is not anti-Semitism. If someone uses 
the situation for anti-Jewish insinuations, they are definitely not 
welcome at our event. And vice versa - the event is open to everyone who 
wants to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom. 
We stand clearly against anti-Semitism, against Zionism, against 
colonialism and always on the side of the oppressed, on the side of the 
victims of Hamas, on the side of the victims of the Israeli army." The 
topic of Palestine was therefore also covered by the majority of the 
program of the lecture block, which was then supplemented by the 
discussion of the Limits are Us initiative about the situation in the 
fight for a fair climate.

The Riot Over River festival opposes various forms of discrimination, 
including social discrimination. The entrance fee was traditionally 
voluntary, so that the event was accessible even to those who could not 
afford the fixed price. The music program was again rich - four stages, 
15 bands, 20 DJs. It was positive that, compared to previous years, 
there was a greater diversity of genres, without giving the impression 
of an incomplete mishmash. All of this accompanied by clear political 
messages in the form of anarchist, anti-fascist and queer flags and 
banners, as well as posters and a mobilization speech for the planned 
blockade of the klero-fascist movement of the Movement for Life. 
Likewise, the literature offered at the Salé distro stand gave clear 
answers.

The number of visitors was about 600, which created a wonderful 
atmosphere and thanks to which more than 40,000 CZK were collected for 
the above-mentioned charitable purposes.

It is also necessary to mention the "benefit within a benefit", i.e. a 
bastion of benefits from the informal collective Vegan Burger Days, in 
support of the Limits are Us initiative, specifically its legal team, 
which deals with intimidating lawsuits brought by coal companies trying 
to deprive the climate movement of money and discourage him from further 
activities. Burgers with a choice of special sauces (Pepráková, Chiapas, 
Tykacuv ortel, Klasika), as well as goulash, coffee and vegan sweets 
were offered for free or for a voluntary contribution. In the end, over 
400 burgers and 161 portions of goulash were distributed, and an amazing 
29,000 CZK was collected for Limits from voluntary contributions.

If it didn't work out this time, there's no need to despair, just mark 
the date 21/09/2024 in your calendar - that's when the big open air Riot 
Over River will take place in Cross.
https://www.afed.cz/text/8117/riot-pro-gazu
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