Budapest – Lawmakers wore yellow stars and hundreds of protesters rallied on Tuesday to condemn a far-right politician who called for the screening of Jews for national security risks, part of a wave of incendiary racist comments from a populist party.
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Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik party deputy, on Monday criticized Hungary’s foreign ministry for what he said was siding with Israel and said the Middle East conflict presented an opportunity to carry out his plans for background checks.
“I think now is the time to assess … how many people of Jewish origin there are here, and especially in the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk for Hungary,” Gyongyosi said.
The Jobbik party has become the second-largest opposition party in Parliament, capitalizing on anti-Semitic and anti-Roma sentiment. Still, the government’s majority has given Jobbik little legislative power and the party’s anti-Semitic statements are usually reserved for their political rallies and publications. Such direct comments are rarely heard inside the legislature.
“One of our fellow deputies stepped over a line that I thought until now could not happen in the halls of the Hungarian national assembly,” said deputy speaker Istvan Ujhelyi, who wore a yellow star while presiding over part of Tuesday’s plenary session. “As far as I know I do not have Jewish ancestry, but should Jobbik uncover that I have such roots, I will be proud of them.”
Some 550,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust, including around a third of the victims who died at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Hungary’s Jewish population is estimated at 100,000 today, and while physical attacks are rare, an elderly rabbi was insulted recently near his home and Jewish and Holocaust memorials have been vandalized.
Members of a Jewish organization handed over 386 yellow stars like those Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis to parliamentary officials, one for every deputy in the Hungarian legislature. Hundreds of protesters attended an anti-Jobbik rally outside Parliament promoted on social media.
Gusztav Zoltai, a Holocaust survivor and one of the leaders of Hungary’s Jewish community, said he was disappointed about the lack of immediate reaction to Gyongyosi’s statements from other politicians present at the time, but was heartened by the crowd attending the rally.
“Much of the country is made up of decent people who protest together with us against these things,” Zoltai said.
Parliamentary Speaker Laszlo Kover announced plans to change parliamentary rules and allow sanctions against deputies for statements or acts similar to Gyongyosi’s.
Gyongyosi made a qualified apology for his statements Tuesday, saying his call to screen Jews was directed only at dual Hungarian-Israeli citizens.
“Jobbik believes that the national security risk assessment … is important exclusively in the case of dual citizens,” Gyongyosi said in a note posted on Jobbik’s website. “I apologize to our Jewish compatriots for my equivocal statement.”
“Hungary should not be afraid of Jobbik but of Zionist Israel and those serving it also from here,” Gyongyosi wrote.
International Jewish organizations also issued strong rebukes, comparing Gyongyosi’s words to those of the Nazis.
I have a book with “list” of jews that the nazis made the mayor of the town of “Nyireghaza” Hungary compile. 4700 Jews, all deported.
History repeats itself.
May these antisemitic Modiar bastards take a nose dive. And why do Jews still live in this rotten with-Jewish blood soaked country? Leave brothers and sisters. We have no future with these evil chazerim.
Hungary had the last blood libel process, Hungarian SS in 1944 escorted my transport to Buchenwald . Hungary should be cursed for its antisemtism and no Jew should be living in that bloody land they were antisemites, they are antisemites and will be antisemites
make a list of all the right wingers too
Unfortunatly its not only Hungary but the entire former Eastern Europe is still mostly anti semitic the very soil of all these countries is soaked with our blood.
I have never understood why people still live there, for the ones who have no money life cant be worse in Israel so they should emigrate and the once who do have money should “avade” run from there.
What will it take for the Jews to realize that they are simply in grave danger
I know that some people will immediately look to find ways to silence this animal. But he is not the root of the problem, just a symptom. If we get rid of the “symptom” we never deal with the cause.
If nothing else, the last 40 years have shown us that removing the symptom by ‘silencing’ threats (whether terrorist threats, antisemitism, racism, etc.) only allows the cancer to grow bigger. When you strip them of their rights to free speech, you create martyrs. Martyrs will ALWAYS find sympathizers.
Look at the Phelps family here in the US. They are absolute animals who deserve nothing less than the most painful of demises to make up for the incredible pain they have caused others. BUT, by allowing them to do what they do, they remain in the public eye. We loudly and publicly label them as racist, antisemitic animals and the name sticks. They don’t get to recruit in the shadows and they never get the martyrdom they crave to expand beyond their own sick, perverse family.
David Duke is another good example. He is an antisemite and a racist. We see him as an animal, but in countries that suppress speech, he finds great support from the racists like Gyongyosi in Hungary.
It’s deja vu. Is it now 1944? NEVER, NEVER AGAIN!!!
It’s odd that his party logo appears to have a red crescent on it.
As much as it pains me to say…Hungarians aren’t that smart.
I remember when i was 14 years old and we were residing in hungary. We had to leave in such a rush back in 1946. We went to berlin and then to america. These hungarian nazis yimach shemom are worse than the actual nazis. Bh i survived with my family zein gezunt.
why don’t they give him the list of Hungarian Jews that were deported by the Hungarians and killed by the Nazis ym”s
WHY DO JEWS LIVE IN HUNGARY????
Its probably pretty scary of course, but did you know that I got a hannukah card from Rob Portman, R-OH Senate? I guess that is nice and all that but doesn’t that say that our congress in some cases might be keeping lists of jews too? I felt a little scared.
While this guy is probably not a tzaddik, it seems he essentially was crying “dual loyalty”. This is yet one more issue that would not have occurred if Zionism hadn’t imposed itself on the world stage. Because then his only “question” would have been if Jews are loyal altogether. And that is certainly offensive and beyond the pale.