It’s just a shot away:
A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a “national security risk”, stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust.
Marton Gyongyosi, a leader of Hungary’s third-strongest political party Jobbik, said the list was necessary because of heightened tensions following the brief conflict in Gaza and should include members of parliament.
Opponents have condemned frequent anti-Semitic slurs and tough rhetoric against the Roma minority by Gyongyosi’s party as populist point scoring ahead of elections in 2014.
…
Jobbik registered as a political party in 2003, and gained increasing influence as it radicalized gradually, vilifying Jews and the country’s 700,000 Roma.
The group gained notoriety after founding the Hungarian Guard, an unarmed vigilante group reminiscent of World War Two-era far-right groups. It entered Parliament at the 2010 elections and holds 44 of 386 seats.
The centre-right government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has struggled to pull Hungary out of recession as many European countries suffer from an economic crisis.
(via Reuters)
Back in April I speculated about the damage that a prolonged recession could pose to democracies in Europe that are far more fragile than we think. I sort of crowed when Paul Krugman wrote along the same lines a few months later.
Here in America we have not traditionally scapegoated Jews, preferring to concentrate on, in order of preference (more or less), Black people always, Indians before we exterminated them, communists (mainly a fantasy threat, but if you believe it’s real…) and, lately, gays. It’s such a crowd that the Jews would have trouble forcing themselves in. But in Europe it’s a different story. Jews are the scapegoat of choice. This kind of stuff doesn’t arise in a vacuum. It’s a byproduct of the times; when people feel threatened they need someone to blame, and most often the victim is chosen for them by politicians whose function is to divert their attention from the people and institutions actually responsible for their troubles.
It is almost certainly true that anti-Semites will always be with us, but it’s not likely that their rhetoric would attract support like that the Jobbik party has attracted in Hungary unless there was a deep seated unease that such people can exploit. Most of that unease is a direct result of the counterproductive austerity policies foisted on most of Europe, and which, unless a miracle occurs, a “grand bargain” will foist on this country.
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