Poll asks Czechs who they would not want as neighbours

A poll published by the agency Factum Invenio suggests strong biases among many Czechs against sharing a neighbourhood with people of specific ethnicities. In response to the question “who would you not want as a neighbour”, 76% of respondents replied “definitely not” or “maybe not” in regards to a hypothetical Romani neighbour. Such responses were also high in regards to Arabs (60%) and respondents were mostly split when asked about Ukrainians and Vietnamese. 40% said they would not want an Israeli as a neighbour, while 18% said they would not want a Jew. The study, which was released at Tuesday’s conference marking the 20 years of diplomatic ties with Israel, suggested that 70% of Czechs had a positive attitude towards Jewish cultural heritage, while 53% perceived Israeli culture positively.