The Western mainstream media often paints a distorted picture of Hungary, says Danube Institute's visiting fellow, Jeffrey Kaplan.Continue reading
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has leveled some bold accusations at the Hungarian government’s feet in his 2023 International Religious Freedom Report Rollout. The list of complaints reads much like a short synthesis of anti-government political NGO reports, but as Mr. Blinken’s Hungarian counterpart swiftly points out, the U.S. Secretary of State should look closer to home for examples of antisemitism and religious persecution.
The report alleges that “in Hungary, officials continue to use antisemitic tropes and anti-Muslim rhetoric, and they penalize members of religious groups who criticize the government.” There are no known recent examples of government officials engaging in antisemitic rhetoric in Hungary, and those who did in the past, such as Márton Gyöngyösi, MP for the hard-right Jobbik party, were inexplicably rewarded with dinner invitations to the U.S. Ambassador’s official residence for the celebration of a Jewish holiday.
Hungarian Foreign Secretary Péter Szijjártó has reacted to the accusations of antisemitism and religious persecutions in a social media post saying – “My colleague Antony Blinken has just criticized our country on the issue of religious freedom, saying that ‘officials’ are using anti-Semitic rhetoric.
This is a particularly nonsensical accusation from the Foreign Minister of a country where there has been a recent sharp rise in intimidating attacks on Jewish people and anti-Semitic riots on university campuses.
Meanwhile, Israel’s national football team and club teams will play their matches in Hungary again next season. Because they feel safe here…”
As far as the report’s statement about “penalizing members of religious groups who criticize the government” is concerned, this is most likely a reference to ongoing legal proceedings against some officials of the so called Evangelical Fellowship of Hungary, a religious group, whose leader Gábor Iványi, despite being a priest, has been openly campaigning on behalf of the left-wing opposition coalition. In February this year investigators from the National Tax and Customs Administration have escorted away the head of the economic office of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship in handcuffs for “well-founded suspicion of economic crime”. Despite the fact that in the past 13 years the church and the charity have received HUF 8.6 billion (EUR 21.7 million) in state aid, they have become severely indebted to the point of being unable to pay their own employees. For all the alleged financial irregularities, the religious group’s leader has become a martyr of the Hungarian opposition, who are alleging that he is being persecuted for his criticism of the Hungarian government.
As to Péter Szijjártó’s references to a “recent sharp rise in intimidating attacks on Jewish people and anti-Semitic riots on university campuses,” the foreign secretary is pointing at the endemic violence and anti-Jewish rhetoric that has engulfed a significant number of American educational institutions since last year’s terror attacks in Israel.
Tulane University- Jewish student attacked by what appears to be two pro Palestinian supporters. pic.twitter.com/OijvBHKbGa
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 26, 2023
In a number of instances the incidents were fed by anti-Israel rhetoric coming from U.S. officials from Mr. Blinken’s own party. For instance, the Anti-Defamation League accused Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of spreading a blood libel after she implied that Jewish students who support Israel are ‘pro-genocide’. Another Congresswoman from Mr. Blinken’s own Democrats, Rashida Tlaib, was awarded the 2023 prize for ‘Antisemite of the Year’ by StopAntisemitism. As the Jerusalem Post reported, Tlaib beat Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and supermodel Gigi Hadid for the top spot. In StopAntisemitism’s words, “Tlaib not only victim-blamed Israel, but she also accused it of committing genocide against the Palestinians and continues to defend calls to ethnically cleanse Israel of Jews and genocide.”
Jewish student SURROUNDED and ATTACKED by out of control mob after he attempted to enter the Columbia University campus.
Columbia descended into chaos last night as anarchist mobs stormed the building, smashing windows with hammers.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 30, 2024
After U.S. Ambassador Pressman’s recent train-wreck political activism in which he accused the Hungarian Government of following a Russian model in persecuting LGBTQ activists, the State Department’s unfounded accusations against Hungary could further erode trust the in the U.S. administration’s ability to monitor the state of human rights across the globe without a severely distorted ideological optic. As scenes reminiscent of medieval pogroms against Jews become commonplace across Europe and the United States, Hungary continues to remain one of the safest places for the Jewish community globally. Diverting attention from the Biden administration’s inability to tackle the United States’ severe internal political and societal decline through ideological attacks against their own allies could inadvertently open an opportunity for the opponents of Western democracies to drive a wedge between legacy political and military alliances in the West.
Featured Image: Facebook U.S. Department of State