Post date: May 07, 2013 10:9:23 PM
The World Jewish Congress urges governments to ban neo-Nazi parties amid a resurgence in the far right in some countries, saying governments are failing to stem the tide.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (MAY 7, 2013) (REUTERS) - The World Jewish Congress debated on Tuesday (May 7) in Budapest a report on the resurgence of anti-Semitic, far-right, neo-Nazi parties in Europe and governments' failure to stem the rise amid popular frustration at conventional leaders and economic recessions.
The WJC, which urged their host Hungary to crack down on the far-right Jobbik party also called on European governments to consider banning neo-Nazi parties such as Golden Dawn in Greece and the National Democratic Party in Germany.Three case studies examined the Hungarian party Jobbik, Greece's Golden Dawn and the German NDP.
Robin Shepherd, the author of the study for the WJC, told the assembly Hungary's ruling party Fidesz was not anti-Semitic but it competed with Jobbik for votes among nationalists frustrated by the economic crisis and resentful of foreign influence in Hungary.
Similarly in Greece, the government was taken by surprise by Golden Dawn which came from nowhere to win about seven percent in elections there last year amid a deep economic crisis.
Shepherd said support for Golden Dawn had risen in opinion polls since the election and the Athens government was so concerned about the country's economic crisis that it did not immediately respond to the challenge it presented.
"Now it doesn't appear that the governing party is collaborationist, it is just that in the context of economic depression when it's effectively spending every waking hour trying to revive the Greek economy other issues like Golden Dawn slip down the list of priorities," said Shepherd
David Saltiel, leader of the Greek Jewish community, agreed and told the assembly: "Our country was caught by surprise."
But Saltiel said the government, after lobbying by the WJC, had assured him it would soon pass a tough hate speech law that would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose up to six years in prison on offenders.
Parliamentary deputies would not be excluded, he said, and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly deny the Holocaust - which Golden Dawn leaders have done in the past.
"We need to have laws, laws that protect everybody, to protect democracy against racism, against those that deny the Holocaust. And this is more important: I think our country was caught by surprise by the extreme right, the Golden Dawn, this neo-Nazi party, percentage that they got at the last election," Saltiel told the delegates.
The WJC passed a resolution saying Budapest must recognise that Jobbik poses "a fundamental threat to Hungary's democracy.
"Decisive action by all democratic forces against these contemporary expressions of extremism must now be taken," it said, adding a request that Prime MinisterViktor Orban sign an international declaration on combating anti-Semitism.
The meeting was held in Hungary rather than Jerusalem to highlight rising anti-Semitism in Hungary.
The Vice President of the Australian Jewish Communities Robert M.Goot read one of the the resolutions:
It calls on parliaments and governments to seriously and urgently consider banning neo-Nazi parties or organizations whose aim is to overthrow the democratic order or which pose a threat to the safety and well-being of ethnic, religious or other minorities," Goot said.
"We need a European directive and then we have to go from country to country and make sure that every national parliament implements those laws, and then the judiciary system in each country also acts accordingly," said the vice president of the European Jewish Congress Ariel Muzicant.
Jobbik, which openly vilifies Hungary's Roma minority and has accused Jews of buying up property to take over Hungary, has been a central issue at the three-day WJC assembly, which brought together Jewish leaders from about 100 countries.
But the resolution also urged Germany and other countries with neo-Nazi parties to consider banning them.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided not to seek a ban on the far-rightNational Democratic Party (NPD) because it is not clear whether such a ban would be constitutional.
But the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament that represents the 16 federal states, has begun its own effort to ban the party, he said.