Demonstrators shouted anti-Semitic remarks during an ultrarightist rally held here this week to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule.
Sunday’s demonstration, during which some 25,000 people gathered outside the Parliament building, was far larger than the official government ceremony held last week to mark the doomed uprising.
Dozens of people shouted “bloody Jew” when a reporter asked some neo-Nazis in the crowd about their views and plans.
“Down with Peto,” the crowd shouted several times during a speech by Istvan Csurka, the anti-Semitic leader of the ultrarightist Hungarian Justice and Life Party.
Ivao Peto, the leader of the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats, a member of the governing coalition, is derided by the ultraright as a symbol of Jewish liberal intellectuals.
Ultrarightists regard the alliance as the “Jewish party.”
The Hungarian Justice and Life Party, which holds no parliamentary seats, is notoriously anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.
Among those addressing the crowd Sunday was the leader of France’s right-wing National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who emphasized the importance of a Christian Europe and spoke out against the European Union.
Le Pen, who is staunchly anti-immigrant, also called on Christian Europeans to unify themselves against “the African Islam intruders.”
Hungarian neo-Nazis were also present at the rally.
According to some reports, police escorted their leader, Albert Szabo, from the demonstration.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
