Hungarian extremists protest
May 5, 2013
Senior figures from the opposition Jobbik - with 43 seats in the 386-member parliament, the third biggest party - charged the crowd with allegations that Israeli President Shimon Peres had praised Jews for buying property in Hungary. Party officials said the World Jewish Congress (WJC) had decided to hold its every-four-years gathering in Budapest to shame the Hungarian people.
"The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale," Jobbik chairman Gabor Vona told the rally near the neo-Gothic parliament along the Danube River.
Slated to address the WJC opening session Sunday evening, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban had ordered the anti-Jewish rally banned, but a court ruled on Friday that police had overstepped authority in trying to block it. The WJC chose Hungary as this year's location for the rally, normally held in Jerusalem, to highlight the rise of far-right groups and anti-Semitism in Europe.
WJC spokesman Michael Thaidigsmann said: "We find it a worrying sign that these people express their anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli ideology in such a public way."
Saturday's rally ended after almost two hours and protesters dispersed without further incident.
mkg/kms (Reuters, AFP, AP)