“There are extremely worrying signs emanating from Hungary at the moment, where barely a week passes without an attack on minorities or outrageous comments from far-Right politicians,” Kantor said. “Unfortunately, red lines keep being crossed and there needs to be an extremely strong reaction, both from the Hungarian government and the European Union to push back against these phenomena.”
Kantor was speaking at the Anti-Semitism Press Conference today, held by The Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Moshe Kantor data base for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University, headed by Prof. Dina Porat, in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress (EJC).
There are disturbing signs that the increase in Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel expressions on the part of Jobbik, the Hungarian neo-Nazi political party, are more than ever being translated into violent acts, the report notes, singling out Jobbik as one of the most dangerous organizations active on the European continent.
Kantor also noted similar political gains for neo-Nazi parties in Greece and Ukraine in a year which has seen significant increases by the far-Right.
In addition, and of great concern, is the situation in France, especially in light of the terror attack by French-born Islamist Mohamed Merah at the Otzar HaTorah School in Toulouse in March of last year.
The Otzar HaTorah School attack triggered a significant rise in anti-Semitic activity in France, 58 percent more than in 2011. Physical assaults, including four cases of shooting, almost doubled in number. It was the most violent year in France since 2004, and its impact was felt in other countries as well, notably the UK.
“It appears that rather than the Toulouse attacks being a shock to the system, they had the opposite effect and perhaps allowed terrorist groups in Europe to become more emboldened,” Kantor said, noting the attempted terror attacks across the continent against Jewish targets.
Dr. Kantor requested that President Schulz support and utilize the democratic institutions of the European Parliament to engage constructively and aggressively with this issue in order that a clear message is conveyed to the institutions of the Republic of Hungary and its government.