CC Wikkicommons
It is always refreshing to start the week off with Jewish voices from around the globe. Global Jewish Voice, that is.
Below are excerpted segments of an intriguing article about the steady rise of Hungary’s extreme right, from the vantage point of a Hungarian-Jewish insider. Read The Far- Right Side at Global Jewish Voice for the full story.
Editor’s Note: While “Gypsy” remains a pejorative term for the Roma people in many parts of the world, it is not necessarily pejorative in countries with significant Roma populations.
Jobbik is a typical far-right party; they are anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli, anti-European Union, homophobic, Gypsy-haters, etc. […] Recently, the party has started to gain traction in eastern Hungary, where there are many Gypsies. Jobbik knew that in demonstrating against the Gypsies, they could earn more votes from non-gypsy Hungarians, who have pre-existing coexistence issues with the Gypsy population. […] Their speeches tend to embrace anti-USA and anti-European Union themes as well. Jobbik’s plan has succeeded. They came from the bottom in 2006, and were able to get 855,436 votes in 2010. […] The party now demands steps be taken in government against Gypsies, Jews, the European Union and immigrants. And if that’s not enough of a commentary on the movement, there is a tragicomic story from the whole episode, too. […]
Follow the rise of Jobbik over at the Global Jewish Voice, an initiative of New Voices Magazine in partnership with AJC: Access and the World Union of Jewish Students.
