Hungary doubts anti-Semitism poll
Budapest officials question methodology behind survey that showed greater fear of anti-Semitism among Jews than in any other European country
The head of the Hungarian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance doubted whether the survey was representative in nature because it did not have a randomly selected sample.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
The survey published by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency earlier this month showed Hungarian Jews were especially concerned by discrimination and nearly half were considering emigrating.
Some 90% of 517 Hungarian Jewish respondents on the survey said anti-Semitism was a "fairly big problem" or "very big problem" compared to an average across all polled nations of 66%. Hungary is estimated to have around 100,000 Jews in total.
Hungary is currently home to a growing ultranationalist movement led by the far-right political party Jobbik. A member of parliament for the group infamously called for a list of Jews who pose a threat to national security to be drawn up.
To highlight the growing anti-Semitism in the country, the World Jewish Congress held their 14th Plenary Assembly in the capital Budapest. Jobbik opposed the move and accused Israel of trying to "buy up Hungary." Attendees at the conference were also disappointed when the Hungarian prime minister did not directly name Jobbik while condemning anti-Semitism in his country.
The EU survey also found that apart from Hungary, France and Belgium are among the most anti-Semitic European countries. In Latvia, only 8% felt that the Israeli/Arab conflict had a large impact on how they felt. But the figure rose to 28% in Germany and 73% in France.
The survey’s authors said this reflects "recent immigration patterns," suggesting this is due to the waves of Muslim immigrants that have come to Europe in recent years and who hate Israel, while in general Jews living in countries with fewer Muslims felt less at risk.
