Anti-Muslim Prejudice ‘Is Moving to the Mainstream’

Members of Britain First, the far-right counter-Jihad
street protest group, march in Rochester, Kent. 

THE GUARDIAN: Report warns of rapid growth of far-right groups that plan to provoke a ‘cultural civil war’

The “counter-jihad” movement in the UK is expanding rapidly, according to new analysis showing that 24 different far-right groups are currently attempting to whip up hatred towards Muslims and provoke a cultural civil war.

The most comprehensive report yet into the alliance of international counter-jihad organisations warns that Islamophobic groups in Britain are capitalising on public concerns following the Paris attacks and ongoing refugee crisis.

Next month, the former leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, often known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, will make his political comeback by fronting the relaunch of the UK arm of Pegida, the German anti-Islam organisation whose provocative rhetoric has prompted attacks on refugees.

The report, by the anti-racist group Hope Not Hate, chronicles 920 anti-Muslim organisations and key Islamophobes in 22 countries, noting that such groups are becoming increasingly well-resourced, particularly in the US, where eight foundations have donated more than £38m since the 9/11 attacks. » | Mark Townsend | Saturday, December 5, 2015

Hungary's Opposition Wins First Round of Voting
Hungarian women in traditional costume leave a voting booth in Mezokovesd during Sunday's elections. Photograph: The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUDAPEST—Hungary's center-right opposition party Fidesz garnered 52.8% of the vote in Sunday's first round of parliamentary elections, while all other parties gained considerably less support, the country's national election office OVI said after processing 99% of the votes.

The ruling minority Socialist Party gained 19.3% of the votes, while the extremist right-wing party Jobbik received 16.7% and green party LMP got 7.4%. No other party crossed the 5% threshold of voter support to get into Parliament.

Both Jobbik and the LMP will make it to Parliament for the first time. Considerable support for Jobbik, known for its anti-Semitic and anti-Roma statements, could be a concern because it could hinder economic reforms.

The final results from the first round are still due. The second round of the elections is scheduled for April 25.

If Fidesz prevails, the new government's stance on fiscal policy and structural reforms will be crucial for investor sentiment toward Hungary, the first European Union country that secured International Monetary Fund support amid the global financial crisis. >>> Margit Feher | Monday, April 12, 2010

Hungary Far Right Needles Fidesz
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BUDAPEST - Hungary's Fidesz, which scored a sweeping victory at Sunday's election, said on Monday it would focus on creating jobs while the far-right Jobbik promised "spectacular" politics to clamp down on "Gypsy crime."

The leader of Jobbik, which bagged one in every six votes to win nearly as many seats as the punished ruling Socialists in Hungary's swing to the right, said it would not be invisible in the next parliament with its new-found clout.

The expectation on Fidesz to act quickly to put Hungary on the path to sustainable growth after near financial collapse will be huge, and investors are wary about whether Jobbik will try to hamper reforms. >>> Reuters | Monday, April 12, 2010

Across Europe, Support for Populist Parties Is On the Rise
DEUTSCHE WELLE: In recent months, extreme right-wing and populist parties have won significant gains in regional and parliamentary elections in Europe. For them, times of crisis are a boon.

As Europe grows together, expanding its visa-free zone toward Iceland and the Ukrainian border, many citizens are beginning to see themselves firstly as Europeans rather than as citizens of their individual countries.

But not everyone supports the breaking down of national barriers. In recent months, xenophobic and right-wing parties have made spectacular political gains across Europe.

In Hungary on Sunday, the far-right Jobbik party won well over 16 percent of votes in parliamentary elections, marking the first entry of an openly right-wing extremist party into parliament. With the country hard-hit by recession, Jobbik capitalized on rising nationalism and a resurgence of anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsy sentiment to win votes.

Jobbik's rise echoes that of France's right-wing Front National party, Italy's xenophobic Northern League and the Netherland's conservative Party for Freedom, which all saw dramatic gains in recent elections.

Although right-wing ideology takes different forms across Europe, it shares a common strategy: exploiting the fears of voters in times of crisis. Right-wing populists focus on their followers' discontent, says Wolfgang Kapust of German public broadcaster WDR.

"They offer easy answers to complicated problems: the economic situation, unemployment or social insecurity," said Kapust. "Above all, they want to get rid of, deport or 'send home' foreigners and 'the others.' " >>> | Monday, April 12, 2010

Markanter Rechtsrutsch: Weist Ungarns Wahlsieger die Rechtsextremen endlich in die Schranken?
NZZ ONLINE – Kommentar: Die ungarischen Parlamentswahlen haben die politische Landschaft des Landes umgepflügt. Die rechtskonservativen Jungdemokraten (Fidesz) unter Viktor Orban triumphieren. Die Sozialisten, die in den letzten acht Jahren regiert haben, erleiden eine Schlappe. Sie haben die Quittung für Misswirtschaft und Korruption erhalten. Ungarn, einst Spitzenreiter bei der Transformation in Ostmitteleuropa, ist zum Bittsteller geworden. Im Herbst 2008 stand das Land am Rande des Staatsbankrotts und konnte nur mit Hilfe des Internationalen Währungsfonds vor dem Absturz bewahrt werden. Hinzu kommt die Langzeitwirkung der sogenannten Lügenrede des damaligen Regierungschefs Gyurcsany. Dieser hatte nach dem Wahlsieg von 2006 hinter verschlossenen Türen erklärt, die Sozialisten hätten gelogen, um die Wahlen zu gewinnen. >>> C. Sr. | Montag, 12. April 2010

Hungary Elections: First Step to Power for Far-Right Since Nazi Era
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The far-Right is poised to take parliamentary seats for the first time since the Second World War, in Hungary's national elections.

Jobbik Rally Dunakeszi Hungary. Vona Gabor addresses suporters. Photograph: The Telegraph
Fidesz, Hungary's centre-right party, is expected to sweep out the unpopular Socialist government and Jobbik, a far-right party is predicted to take second place after Sunday's elections.

Hungary's largest Jewish organisation warned that the vote was "the first occasion that a movement pursuing openly anti-Semitic policies" has taken a step to power since the Nazi era.

Hungary's election gains for Jobbik follow a upsurge in support for the far-Right across Europe.

Last month, French regional elections, dominated by debates over immigration, saw electoral revival for the National Front. In June, Dutch elections could propel Geert Wilders, whose anti-Islamic, hard-right Freedom Party leads the polls, into power.

Amid rising unemployment, Hungary was the first European Union country to turn to the International Monetary Fund for an £18 billion bailout last year.

Jobbik has risen by using Hungary's deep economic crisis to revive traditional Hungarian scape-goating of Jewish and gypsy, or Roma, communities for joblessness and poverty.

It has close links with the Magyar Garda or Hungarian Guard, a banned paramilitary group with insignia modelled on the Arrow Cross of Hungary's wartime Nazis.

Gabor Vona, Jobbik's 31-year old leader, has vowed to be sworn in as an MP wearing the banned uniform. "I will keep my promise to go into parliament on the first day in a Garda vest," he said.

The Guards, founded by Mr Vona, have polarised Hungary by staging a series of marches against "gypsy crime" through small countryside towns and villages with large Roma communities. An unprecedented series of Roma killings in 2008 and 2009 claimed six lives in several villages. >>> Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Machtwechsel: Ungarn gleitet nach rechts ab
20MINUTEN.ch: Bei der Parlamentswahl in Ungarn hat die konservative Fidesz-Partei des ehemaligen Ministerpräsidenten Viktor Orban einen klaren Sieg errungen. Damit steht das wirtschaftlich angeschlagene EU- Mitgliedsland vor einem Rechtsruck.

Die Rechte hat in Ungarn am Sonntag die Parlamentswahlen nach Umfragen klar für sich entschieden. Den grossen Meinungsforschungsinstituten des Landes zufolge stimmten 54 bis 57 Prozent der Wähler für den rechts-konservativen Bund Junger Demokraten (FIDESZ). Damit kommt es wohl zum Regierungswechsel.

Auch die rechtsextreme Jobbik (Die Besseren) dürfte mit 15 bis 17 Prozent erstmals ins Parlament einziehen. Dagegen kam die regierende Ungarische Sozialistische Partei (MSZP) den Umfragen zufolge nur auf 19 bis 20 Prozent der Stimmen.

Die links-ökologische Partei «Politik kann anders sein» (LMP) dürfte mit 5,5 bis 6 Prozent erstmals den Sprung in die Volksvertretung geschafft haben.

Offizielle Ergebnisse wurden nicht mitgeteilt, da einige Wahllokale länger geöffnet bleiben mussten. Die FIDESZ-Partei erklärte, die Wahlleitung überschreite ihre Kompetenzen und müsse zurücktreten.

In mehreren Bezirken hatten sich lange Schlangen vor den Wahllokalen gebildet. Deshalb war dort die Stimmabgabe auch noch nach der offiziellen Schliessung um 19.00 Uhr möglich. Wie die Landeswahlkommission (OVB) in Budapest mitteilte, war jedoch nicht erhöhtes Wähleraufkommen Grund für die Warteschlangen, vielmehr hätten administrative Unzulänglichkeiten dazu geführt. Wohl absolute Mehrheit für FIDESZ >>> sda | Sonntag, 11. April 2010

La Hongrie s'apprête à basculer à droite
LE MONDE: La Hongrie, qui exercera au premier semestre 2011 la présidence de l'Union européenne, se prépare à un bouleversement de son paysage politique lors des élections législatives des 11 et 25 avril. Tous les instituts de sondage prédisent une majorité absolue, peut-être même des deux tiers, à la principale force de l'opposition de droite, le Fidesz, de l'ancien premier ministre Viktor Orban.

L'autre enjeu de ce scrutin législatif, le sixième depuis la fin du communisme il y a vingt ans, sera de confirmer ou non la poussée du parti d'extrême droite Jobbik, qui a capté d'emblée près de 15 % des voix aux élections européennes en 2009, déjouant alors tous les pronostics. Sur sa lancée, le parti de Gabor Vona et de Krisztina Morvai, ses deux figures de proue, s'est donné pour objectif de décrocher la deuxième place au Parlement, devant MSZP, le Parti socialiste hongrois. Au pouvoir depuis 2002, ce dernier est usé par des affaires de corruption qui ont écœuré l'opinion publiqu, et par la politique de rigueur budgétaire qu'ils ont dû se résoudre à mener, avec le secours du Fonds monétaire international, pour sauver le pays de la banqueroute. Mais il semble que le Jobbik (son nom joue à la fois sur l'idée de "droite" et de "meilleur") a visé trop haut, et devra se contenter de la troisième place. >>> Joëlle Stolz | Dimanche 11 Avril 2010

WIKI: Gábor Vona >>>

Far-right Party Jobbik On Course for Breakthrough in Hungarian Elections
The Vencel family display their support of the Hungarian Hussar Unit at the poll. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: A far-right party whose candidates have voiced anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy rhetoric was on course for a breakthrough in Hungarian elections amid predictions that it could even beat the governing socialists into third place.

Jobbik, which maintains a uniformed wing that marches in military formation, was set last night to win its first parliamentary seats against the backdrop of anti-Government resentment and an economic downturn.

Opinion polls yesterday predicted a landslide victory for the opposition centre-right Fidesz party, which last ruled between 1998 and 2002.

It has promised to create a million jobs over the next decade, stamp out corruption and revamp the Byzantine tax system in a country where unemployment is 11 per cent. Harsh austerity measures have also been implemented under the terms of an IMF loan of €20 billion (£17.5 billion) in 2008.

However, there are fears that a strong showing by Jobbik, one of a number of far-right groups making gains in Europe, could weaken investor confidence and deepen the country’s crisis, which may account for a stream of recent stories attacking the party.

The Jobbik spokesman Andras Kiraly resigned after pictures of him at the Toronto Gay Pride parade appeared on the internet, and a female member of the Magyar Garda, the party’s uniformed organisation, was revealed to have starred in a lesbian pornographic film. >>> Adam LeBor, Budapest | Monday, April 12, 2010

Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism
LA TIMES: Much of the support for the right-wing parties springs from a resentment of long-ruling political elites.

Two far-right parties, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Movement for Austria's Future, managed to win 29% of the vote in Sunday's general elections in Austria. This is double what they got in the elections of 2006.

Both parties share the same attitudes toward immigrants, especially Muslims, and the European Union: a mixture of fear and loathing. Because the leaders of the two parties, Heinz-Christian Strache and Jorg Haider, can't stand each other, there is little chance of a far-right coalition actually taking power. Nonetheless, this is Adolf Hitler's native land, where Jews were once forced to scrub the streets of Vienna with toothbrushes before being deported and killed, so the result is disturbing. The question is: How disturbing?

Twenty-nine percent is about 15% more than populist right-wing parties usually get even in very good (for them) years in other European countries. Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, wants the government to create a new ministry to manage the deportation of immigrants. Muslims are openly disparaged by leaders of both parties. Haider once praised the employment practices of Hitler's Third Reich. Inevitably, the new rightists bring back memories of storm troopers and race laws.

Yet to see the rise of the Austrian right as a revival of Nazism would be a mistake. For one thing, neither party is advocating violence, even if some of their rhetoric might inspire it. For another, it seems to me that voters backing these far-right parties may be motivated less by ideology than by anxieties and resentments that are felt in many European countries, including ones with no Nazi tradition, such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

In Denmark, the hard-right Danish People's Party is the third-largest party in the country, with 25 parliamentary seats. Dutch populists such as Rita Verdonk, or Geert Wilders, who is driven by a paranoid fear of "Islamization," are putting the traditional political elites -- a combination of liberals, social democrats and Christian democrats -- under severe pressure.

And this is precisely the point. The biggest resentment among supporters of the right-wing parties in Europe these days is reserved not so much for immigrants as for political elites that, in the opinion of many, have been governing for too long in cozy coalitions, which appear to exist chiefly to protect vested interests. In Austria, even liberals admit that an endless succession of social democrat and Christian democrat governments has clogged the arteries of the political system. It has been difficult for smaller parties to penetrate what is seen as a bastion of political privilege. The same is true in the Netherlands, which has been governed for decades by the same middle-of-the-road parties, led by benevolent but rather paternalistic figures whose views about multiculturalism, tolerance and Europe were, until recently, rarely challenged. Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism >>> By Ian Buruma | October 3, 2008

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