Anti-Semitism in Europe akin to 1930s: Jewish Leader

President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 'We Jews are the sentinels at the forefront of this war' a prominent Jewish figure in America says

A prominent Jewish figure urged the United States on Tuesday to beware surging anti-Semitism in Europe and warned that seven decades after World War II Jews on the continent are having to look over their shoulders once more.

World Jewish Congress (WJC) president Ronald Lauder told a congressional committee in Washington that the United States could not sit by quietly, with events such as the recent attack in France underlining the growing threat.

"Once again, like the 1930s, European Jews live in fear," said Lauder, a billionaire businessman who inherited a fortune from his mother Estee Lauder's cosmetics empire.

"The United States can and must speak loudly and clearly to condemn this evil for what it is - the radical Islamic hatred of Jews."

"To defeat this new flame of radical Islamic terror and survive... the United States must lead," stressed Lauder, whose mother was Jewish and in whose faith he was raised.

The WJC represents Jewish communities in 100 countries. » | Agencies | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Anti-Semitism 'On the Rise' Across Europe
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Hungary's prime minister has told an international assembly of Jews that anti-Semitism was on the rise both in Europe and Hungary, attributing it partly to the economic crisis affecting the region.

Viktor Orban said that his government has declared "zero tolerance" on anti-Semitism, but his speech failed to impress those gathered who said he has failed to confront the country's largest far-right party.

"Anti-Semitism is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated," Mr Orban told some 600 delegates at the World Jewish Congress meeting, adding that it was his government's "moral duty to declare zero tolerance on anti-Semitism."

While delegates applauded some parts of Mr Orban's speech on Sunday, the WJC was also quick to express its disappointment that he had not specifically talked about the country's third biggest political force, the far-right Jobbik party, whose politicians in parliament have made numerous anti-Semitic statements.

"The prime minister did not confront the true nature of the problem - the threat posed by the anti-Semites in general and by the extreme-right Jobbik party in particular," the WJC said in a statement. "We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe." » | Edited by Bonnie Malkin | Sunday, May 05, 2013

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Missing the Point: Hungarian Leader Whitewashes Anti-Semitism – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sought this weekend to convince some 500 Jewish leaders gathered in Budapest that his government is committed to combating a frightening increase in anti-Semitism. His speech, however, was notable more for what it left out than what it said. » | James Kirchick in Budapest | Monday, May 06, 2013

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Jobbik Rally Against World Jewish Congress In Budapest
BBC: Hungary's far-right Jobbik party has staged a rally in central Budapest in protest at the capital's hosting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) on Sunday.

Several hundred supporters took part, despite attempts by the government to prevent it going ahead.

Jobbik said the rally was a protest against what it said was a Jewish attempt to buy up Hungary.

The party, which says it aims to protect Hungarian values and interests, is the third largest in parliament.

It regularly issues anti-Semitic statements.

The event in Budapest on Saturday was billed as a tribute to what organisers called the victims of Bolshevism and Zionism.

"The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale," party chairman Gabor Vona told the rally, according to Reuters news agency.

Marton Gyongyosi said Hungary had "become subjugated to Zionism, it has become a target of colonisation while we, the indigenous people, can play only the role of extras".

Last year, Mr Gyongyosi had sparked outrage by saying all government officials of Jewish origin should be officially listed, as they might be a "national security risk". » | Saturday, May 04, 2013

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Inside the Far-Right Stronghold Where Hungarian Jews Fear for the Future

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As the World Jewish Congress opens in Budapest amid a rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary, Colin Freeman visits the town of Tiszavasvári, twinned with Iran and the stronghold of the far-Right Jobbik party.

As the self-declared "capital" of the ultra-nationalist Jobbik Party, the town of Tiszavasvári prides itself on being a showcase for how the whole of Hungary might one day look.

Since winning control of Tiszavasvári's local council three years ago on a pledge to fight "Gipsy crime", the party has been on a vigorous clean-up campaign, banning prostitution, tidying the streets, and keeping a watchful eye on the shabby Roma districts at the edge of town. It even swore in its own Jobbik "security force" to work alongside the police, only for the uniformed militia, which drew comparisons with Hitler's brown-shirts, to be banned by Hungary's national government.

Yet Gipsies are not the only bogeyman that Jobbik has in its sights, as a sign on the well-trimmed green opposite the Communist-era mayoralty building suggests. Written in both Hungarian and Persian, it proudly announces that Tiszavasvári is twinned with Ardabil, a town in the rugged mountains of north-west Iran.

On the face of it, there is no obvious reason why a drab rustbelt town in Hungary's former mining area should seek links to a city in a hardline Islamic Republic 2,000 miles away. But this is no ordinary cultural exchange programme, and friendship has very little to do with it. Instead, the real purpose of Jobbik's links to Iran is to show their mutual loathing of the Jewish state of Israel, which the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, notoriously declared should be "wiped from the pages of history".

"The Persian people and their leaders are considered pariahs in the eyes of the West, which serves Israeli interests," said Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik MP and its leading foreign policy voice. "This is why we have solidarity with the peaceful nation of Iran and turn to her with an open heart." » | Colin Freeman, Tiszavasvári | Saturday, May 04, 2013


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