Jews around the world are used to local politicians sending holiday greetings during Rosh Hashanah or Hannukah, and the statements often go relatively unnoticed. But in Hungary, a recent Hannukah letter has sparked a firestorm. Gábor Vona, the leader of Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party, for the first time ever, sent a letter on December 24…
(JTA) – A prominent rabbi from Budapest rejected an unusual Hanukkah greeting from the far-right Jobbik party, citing its alleged anti-Semitism. Rabbi Slomo Koves, leader of the Orthodox Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation, in an open letter Wednesday spurned the greeting his office received earlier this week from the party’s chairman, Gabor Vona. “It’s a nice…
Even a century after his death, the name Harry Houdini is synonymous with escapology, but less is known about his first great escape – how he left his Hungarian home as a child. The House of Houdini, a museum in Budapest’s historic Castle district, seeks to shed light on the illusionist’s roots with a display…
As the first results of the U.S. presidential election were released on November 8, the Union of French Jewish Students, which goes by the acronym UEJF, posted a worried note on its website. “Donald Trump, through his racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, conspiracy-theorist, xenophobic, misogynist, anti-abortion, pro-death penalty and torture positions, is a threat to human rights,…
In America, the Facebook post announcing a Jewish social event focused on human rights might seem innocuous, if a bit cute: “No One Is Illegal: Concert, New Klezmer Disco, Syrian Dance Lesson,” the invitation to a fundraiser for refugees read. But it’s a significantly more risky proposition in a country led by a right-wing prime…
A former lawmaker for the far-right Jobbik party in Hungary, who stepped down when he discovered his own Jewish roots, is now immigrating to Israel. In an interview with the Hebrew website Ma’ariv, Csanad Szegedi said he wants to parter with Israeli groups to coordinate in the fight against the type of anti-Semitism he once…
BUDAPEST — Hundreds protested in downtown Budapest against a vandalism attack on a memorial to the nearly 600,000 victims of the Holocaust in Hungary. The unknown vandals tore photographs on display at Liberty Square and damaged or removed objects donated to the Living Memorial by survivors and their descendants. The memorial is located opposite a…
— A court in Budapest has ordered the temporary blocking of about 20 websites that carry Holocaust denial material. The sites sell the Hungarian edition of a book by a Swedish author that denies that the Nazis committed genocide and makes excerpts available to read on-line, Budapest chief prosecutor Tibor Ibolya said Tuesday, Hungary Today…
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