On March 15th, tens of thousands of people filled the streets of Hungary's beautiful capital Budapest, ostensibly to celebrate the 162nd anniversary of the 1848-1948 revolution and war of independence. Among the many events commemorating this anniversary across city, a multitudinous political rally for the far-right party Jobbik garnered the most attention, as restless young supporters showed up sporting Hitler-like mustaches and army fatigues to hear the party leader Gábor Vona threaten retribution against corrupt lawmakers and "gypsy criminality." With a parliamentary election coming up on April 11th, this increasingly popular nationalist party is sending a shock through minority communities in Hungary.
Some observers say we shouldn't worry about Jobbik. The party is making an effort to portray itself as a normal, mainstream conservative party, but this thought disappears whenever Vona speaks in public: one of his favorite refrains is that "Hungary is for Hungarians," and that the country must be stoutly defended from outside "foreign speculators," often pointing to some imagined evil agenda of Israel in Central Europe. He has drawn up a long list of enemies (including the United States), and said he would shut down several television stations once in power. Given that the party is linked with the violent paramilitary brigade "Magyar Gárda," which was banned last summer, these promises of violence are not just idle talk.
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Annual Brussels weekend, November 26-28. A weekend full of fun with plenty of sight seeing, good times, and a HUGE party with UEJB!
Police decoys have helped reduce street crime. The “decoy Jew” has now been added to the police attributes.
Despite volcanic disruptions to European air travel, 150 Europeans traveled to New York for the first transatlantic ECJS event May 6-10.
Ostrove told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that he had the opportunity to talk to a lot of European Jewish students, ages 18-35, about the their concerns, including anti-Semitism.
