World Jewish Congress Calls For Crackdown On Hungary's Far Right

[HuffingtonPost]

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor                

BUDAPEST, May 7 (Reuters) - The World Jewish Congress urged  Hungary on Tuesday to crack down on the far-right Jobbik party  and called on governments in Europe to consider banning neo-Nazi  parties threatening democracy and minority rights.                

The WJC plenary assembly, held in the Hungarian capital  rather than Jerusalem to highlight rising anti-Semitism in  Hungary, passed a resolution saying Budapest must recognise that  Jobbik poses "a fundamental threat to Hungary's democracy.                

"Decisive action by all democratic forces against these  contemporary expressions of extremism must now be taken," it  said, adding a request that Prime Minister Viktor Orban sign an  international declaration on combating anti-Semitism.                

Jobbik, which openly vilifies Hungary's Roma minority and  has accused Jews of buying up property to take over Hungary, has  been a central issue at the three-day WJC assembly, which  brought together Jewish leaders from about 100 countries.                

Orban addressed the opening session of the assembly on  Sunday evening, issuing a strong denunciation of anti-Semitism  but avoiding any mention of Jobbik.                

"He missed a golden opportunity," said WJC President Ronald  Lauder, who while introducing Orban had specifically asked him  to denounce the populist party.                

Lauder later apologised, saying he had not been aware of  comments made by Orban to the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth  before the congress, in which the prime minister said Jobbik was  a real danger to democracy.                

"I want to put it on the record that the prime minister  really did make a strong statement against Jobbik," Lauder said  in his closing remarks to the congress.                

Jobbik, which won 17 percent of the vote in the 2010  election and has 43 of the 368 seats in parliament, held an  "anti-Zionist and anti-Bolshevik" rally in Budapest to protest  against the WJC meeting being held in the Hungarian capital.                

Orban's Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority in  parliament, but has lost ground in opinion polls since it took  power in 2010. It still has a strong opinion poll lead however  and has a good chance of winning next year's election. Support  for Jobbik meanwhile has hovered around 10 percent this year.                

GREECE AND GERMANY                

Robin Shepherd, author of a study for the WJC on neo-Nazi  parties in Europe, told the assembly Fidesz was not anti-Semitic  but it competed with Jobbik for votes among nationalists  frustrated by the economy and resentful of foreign influence.                

"If Orban goes too hard against Jobbik, he's worried he  won't be able to scoop up Jobbik's voters," he said.                

The assembly also debated the rise of far-right parties such  as Golden Dawn in crisis-stricken Greece, which came from  nowhere to win about seven percent in elections there last year.                

Shepherd said support for Golden Dawn had risen in opinion  polls since the election and the Athens government was so  concerned about the country's economic crisis that it did not  immediately respond to the challenge it presented.                

David Saltiel, leader of the Greek Jewish community, agreed  and told the assembly: "Our country was caught by surprise."                

But Saltiel said the government, after lobbying by the WJC,  had assured him it would soon pass a tough hate speech law that  would outlaw incitement against people because of their race,  religion, ethnicity or intercourseual orientation, and impose up to six  years in prison on offenders.                

Parliamentary deputies would not be excluded, he said, and  parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if  their leaders publicly deny the Holocaust - which Golden Dawn  leaders have done in the past.                

"We think with this law, (Golden Dawn) will be brought back  to the small numbers it had before," he said.                

The resolution also urged Germany and other countries with  neo-Nazi parties to consider banning them.                

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided not to seek a  ban on the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) because it  is not clear whether such a ban would be constitutional.                

But the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament that  represents the 16 federal states, has begun its own effort to  ban the party, he said.     (Reporting by Tom Heneghan; Additional reporting by Sandor  Peto; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Via: HuffingtonPost