The shadow of anti-Jewish sentiments falls on Europe

The Hungarian government struggled to counter allegations of institutionalised anti-Semitism on Sunday after the country's far-right Jobbik party staged a mass rally in the capital Budapest in protest against a meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in the city. The WJC usually holds its assembly in Jerusalem. But it chose Budapest for its meeting, which began yesterday, to highlight what it claims is growing anti-Semitism and a rise in support for the far right in Europe, where the economic crisis is fuelling distrust in mainstream political parties. Hungary has one of the largest Jewish populations in the European Union, but there is growing concern that the government is not doing enough to combat anti-Semitic rhetoric. Ronald S Lauder, the WJC president, complained last month that Hungary was on a "dangerous political path" and that its controversial right-wing nationalist Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, had "lost his political compass" and often told the far right "what they want to hear". Last night Mr Orban addressed the issue of growing anti-Semitism in a speech at the opening of the assembly, which runs until Wednesday. He defended the notion of strong national identity as beneficial for mutual co-existence, but said it is a "moral obligation to declare a policy of zero tolerance against anti-Semitism". In a gesture which underlined the problems in Hungary, the far-right and openly racist Jobbik party held a mass rally in Budapest on Saturday, less than 24 hours before the WJC was to open its assembly, claiming that the meeting was a "Jewish attempt to buy up Hungary". The Hungarian Prime Minister had previously tried to ban the rally by the Jobbik party, but was overruled by the courts. Read More

Hungarian mayor leads protests against Israel

The extremist right-wing mayor of a town in eastern Hungary held a mock-execution in which effigies of the Prime Minister and former President of Israel were hanged, in what he claims was a protest against the war in Gaza. Erpatak mayor Mihaly Zoltan Orosz told reporters on Monday that the “Jewish terror state” is trying to obliterate the Palestinians and said he opposed “the efforts of Freemason Jews to rule the world.” Hungary's foreign ministry condemned the mayor's actions, saying he was using innocent victims of the war “to spread hate-inducing propaganda.” An online video of Saturday's event shows an executioner with a black hood over his face kicking chairs out from under the puppets of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres, each tied to a gallows. Flanked by flag-bearing youths, he holds an Israeli-like flag, where the Star of David has been replaced with the Freemason symbol. Read more: Jobbik: The shadow of anti-semitism falls on Europe once more Owen Jones: We can’t just wish away anti-Semitism Orosz has been mayor of the town 240km from the capital of Budapest since 2005, and is affiliated with the ultra-nationalist group Jobbik. The group are part of a trend of so-called ‘Putinism’in Hungary, characterised by support for nationalism, religion, social conservatism, state capitalism, and government domination of the media. Earlier in the year, anti-racism groups in the UKattempted to ban Jobbik’sleader, Gabor Vona, from making a speech in Londonwhich co-incided with Holocaust Memorial Day. At the time, the then-leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, had spoken of a “common core” of shared values with Jobbikand the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn