Stronger anti-Semitism in Hungary |  |
A message to the participants of the conference entitled: "Jewish Life and Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Europe"
The Fédération internationale des Résistants (FIR), the Hungarian Association of Resistance Fighters and Antifasicts - Union For Democracy (MEASZ), the group "Hungary without Nacism" (NeM), the Bajcsy Zsilinszky Memorial Committee (BZSB), the Miklós Radnóti Anti-Racist Award Foundation, as well as numerous other antifascist organizations direct the following message to participants of the conference enrtitled "Jewish Life and Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Europe":
In keeping with the Tom Lantos Institute's declared aim of uncovering the reasons and factors that lead to anti-Semitism in Europe, and then helping to push back this troubling phenomenon, we feel that we must speak up, from a Hungarian perspective on a number of points.
Above all, we are calling for a Nazi-free Hungary.
The authors of this message aim to shine light on serious societal ills in Hungary. We are deeply concerned by the spread of far-right ideologies and we know that there are many grave problems that have yet to be resolved.
Let's begin with a few facts:
– International surveys and polls suggest that of all EU member states, Hungary is among the most poisoned by racism and anti-Semitism.
– The political parties that led the way during the 1989/90 regime change failed to confront the nation's past and as such, they did not take key steps that could have prevented the situation we find ourselves in today.
– Over the past 20 years, the Hungarian far-right, including its ideological framework, has strengthened markedly and rapidly. Jobbik, which follows some of the traditions created by the Party of Hungarian Justice and Life (MIÉP), represents a major political force in contemporary Hungary. In parliament, they speak about "gypsy crime" and they rekindle Jewish blood libel legends developed by anti-Semites over a hundred years ago. The party has also suggested registering Hungarians of Jewish descent. While the current Hungarian government ostensibly condemns these views, but in terms of concrete actions, or the lack thereof, the government is doing little else than creating a Potemkin village for the outside world. The government has failed to disband Jobbik's paramilitary force, despite the fact that the courts have declared them to be illegal, nor does it prevent nazi and fascistic views from being aired in parliament. In many cases, government circles support and sometimes even fund far-right groups.
We can provide the following concrete examples:
– Under the direction of the current right-wing government, the rehabilitation of the interwar regime of Miklós Horthy is proceeding full-steam ahead. Part of this process involves the re-design of Kossuth Square, in front of the Hungarian parliament, to more closely reflect how it looked like in 1944, as well as the removal of Mihály Károlyi's statue.
– While anti-fascists celebrate Budapest's liberation from nazism, representatives of the Ministry of Defence attend events that celebrate Hungarian soldiers who fought for Hitler.
– Over the past three years, the names of anti-fascist resistance fighters and democrats have been removed from public places and replaced by anti-Semites, like Albert Wass and József Nyirő. Pál Teleki, Miklós Horthy and Cécile Tormay already have statues commemorating their role during the interwar period. For example, in the town of Kunhegyes, a street named after anti-fascist resistance fighter Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky has been changed to that of Albert Wass, a fascistic author.
– Hungary does not have effective legislation to combat hate speech and hate crimes.
– The falsification of history is the order of the day, when it comes to school textbooks. Anti-Semitic authors and thinkers are being presented in a positive light.
– The awards ceremony for MEASZ's Miklós Radnóti Prize for Anti-Racism used to occur in parliament, but since László Kövér became speaker of the house in 2010, he has banned this event from the legislature. At the same time, Kövér had no qualms speaking at the reburial of fascistic author and politician József Nyirő.
– Hungarian authorities do not take decisive action when Jews, Roma or gays, or those who support inclusive policies, are attacked, either verbally or physically. It has been more than a year since anti-fascist activist Vilmos Hanti was attacked in front of Új Színház, and authorities have thus far failed to track down the 15 to 20 neo-Nazi perpetrators.
– On July 18th, 2012, the fascist website kuruc.info placed a bounty on those who demonstrated in front of the home of a war criminal, László Csatáry. As a result of kuruc.info's campaign of hate, numerous activists faced months of threats, all of which went unanswered by the Hungarian authorities.
– Recently, a Hungarian court ruled against a Hungarian history professor, László Karsai, who dared to label Jobbik a Nazi party.
We hope that as participants at this conference, our letter will provide you with a more comprehensive and accurate picture of what is happening in Hungary.
Vilmos Hanti, representing FIR,
István Szekeres and Dr. György Borsány, representing MEASZ,
Gizella Pál and Imre Lebovtis, representing NeM,
Zoltán Kerecsényi, representing BZSB,
Tamás Barát, representing RAD,
as well as
Eszter Édler Garai and Robert Garai, on behalf of anti-fascist activists in Hungary
http://antifasiszta.org
2013. szeptember 23.
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