by Hana Levi Julian

Hungary appears to be moving back to a fascist future, with nearly a quarter of young adults voting in the most recent election for the far right Jobbik party.

National elections in April saw the rise of the “Movement for a Better Hungary” with 17 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 voting for the party. The right-wing Fidesz party took 53 percent of the vote, knocking the incumbent Socialist party out of office, with only 19 percent of the mandates.

The neo-fascist, specifically anti-Semitic movement was created seven years ago. At that time, Catholic and Protestant history professors and their students at two universities – Hungary’s venerable Eotvos Lorand, and the private, Calvinist Karoli Gaspar – gathered to create from the right-wing Fidesz party a new, even more nationalist framework.

The party is also known to be pro-Palestinian Authority. “The Movement for a Better Hungary has always been primarily sympathetic to the Palestinian cause,” Jobbik states on its website. “As Hungarian nationalists, we can sympathize more readily with a people who have had their land taken away from them, in order to form a new country.”

Jobbik parliamentarian Marton Gyongyosi heavily criticized Israel for its interception of the recent attempt by a Turkish-sent six-ship flotilla to break the blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza. The far-right lawmaker said Israel’s actions should be viewed as an attack against one of Hungary’s NATO allies that “calls for Hungary’s support on the side of Turkey.”

Gyonyosi, who is vice president of the country’s Foreign Affairs Committee and IPU, compared the incident in which Israeli Naval personnel were attacked by Turkish terrorists aboard the Mavi Marmara with Israel’s three-week counter terrorism war against terrorists in the region in the winter of 2008-2009 – an event he labeled a “qualified case of genocide.”

Particularly disturbing is a study conducted by Hungarian sociologist Maria Vasarhelyi that found fully one-third of the country’s history majors are anti-Semitic. Fifteen percent of students take racist positions, she writes, 35 percent believe that Gypsies are criminal due to their genetic coding and 60 percent said that the Gypsies themselves are responsible for the prejudice.

Jobbik is the second largest opposition party in the Hungarian parliament at present, and Hungary will be taking over the rotating European Union Council presidency in 2011. (IsraelNationalNews.com)

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Hungarian City Supports Israel Against Flotilla

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The petition stated: “We, the citizens of Nyiregyhaza, assure our brother city of Kiryat Motzkin and the State of Israel of our support.  We consider the breaking of the naval blockade of Gaza as a provocation and we proclaim that Israel, like all other recognized states, had, has and will have the right to protect itself and the lives and security of its citizens.”

After the petition was read, Deputy Mayor Nagy spoke. “The Israeli action against the flotilla was justified,” he asserted.  “It was done in order to prevent an attack on the sovereignty of the State of Israel and we should all understand the importance of this.”

Additional members of the delegation agreed that “the time has come for the world to unite against terrorism.”

The Hungarians affirmed that demonstrations in support of Israel had taken place in Nyiregyhaza.

Mayor Tzuri praised the visitors saying, “the residents of the State of Israel are proud of you and thank you for understanding that we must fight terrorism and protect our citizens.  No country in the world would allow rockets to fall on it or allow its citizens to be exposed to deadly acts of terrorism. IDF soldiers are an example for soldiers the world over.” (IsraelNationalNews.com)