When a friend or family member sends you an email or perhaps calls you on Skype and opens by saying, “I saw Hungary in the news today”, you would not be faulted if your first response was to cringe.
There has been so much cringe-worthy news it’s hard to keep track. Your first thought might be, “Oh-oh, what did Viktor say to the IMF this time?” Or was it an article about the demise of democracy in Hungary thanks to Fidesz, Viktor, the new Constitution or the Fourth Amendment?
Did someone say something about Slovakia? Again. It is so hard to keep track of when Hungary and Slovakia turn from good neighbours to bad and back to good again. It’s like following a ping-pong tournament. Or was that with Serbia?
Did someone in Washington write another op-ed article on democracy, mentioning Hungary as a country failing democracy litmus tests?
We all know Hungary has limited experience with genuine democracy so it would be hard to fault the country for making some mis-steps along the way. In all of Hungary’s 1000 year plus history, how much was under democratic rule? A few decades at best.
The sham and the shame
You muster up the courage to ask your friend from ‘away’ exactly what they saw in the news and their response illustrates an embarrassing by-product of democracy at work. There you had Jobbik, doing a prime-time, antisemitic performance the day before Budapest was to host the World Jewish Congress. Jobbik got exactly what it wanted which is international news coverage Hungary doesn’t need.
You sigh and say, “Yes, yes, I know.” You think to yourself, “If Viktor & co. are dismantling democracy in Hungary, it would be nice if they would keep these embarrassing clowns out of public view as well.” But somehow, democracy prevailed and although Vik tried to ban their march/rally, the Constitutional Court overturned the ban, thus allowing the rally to proceed. Roll camera.
Bad economic times have a way of cultivating prejudice, hatred and blind nationalism. Bad economic times can spawn less-than desirable political movements and can even dress it up in nifty little uniforms, as it has with Jobbik. Forget that their paramilitary wing’s uniforms were outlawed. We have live coverage! Can’t miss this opportunity, can we?
Was it thousands of Jobbik supporters who poured out onto the streets of Budapest to denounce the “Jewish attempt to buy up Hungary”? (We should be so lucky. From what I see, nobody is buying anything.) No. It was, according to some reports, about 200 people or about .001 percent Budapest’s population while other reports said 1,000 people attended the demonstration. Whatever the number, Jobbik does hold 43 seats in parliament. Not insignificant. However, much of its support comes from rural Hungary where the lament is not against Jews but against Roma and “gypsy crime”. So there you have it, the world according to Jobbik: The Jews are going to buy everything and what they don’t buy the Roma will steal.
You hate what you fear
Of course, what Jobbik might fail to recognize is that they played right into their adversaries’ hands. Speakers at the World Jewish Congress were saying, (with justifiable concern), there is a rise in fascism and anti-Semitic movements in some parts of Europe and it must be addressed. Don’t believe us? Look out the window. There they are. In full regalia.
Right on cue, Jobbik stepped right into the spotlight, almost as if they were scripted actors on someone’s payroll. Someone from Jerusalem. Their speeches began and cameras rolled. Any speaker at the opening of the World Jewish Congress need only to have replayed the news footage from the day before and said, “I rest my case”.
Oddly, Jobbik is textbook case for democracy. Granted, some of their leaders’ speeches could be seen as promoting hate (you think?) which is illegal in many democratic countries. However, freedom of speech is a cornerstone to democracy and if some of the speeches make us cringe, so be it. One of the greatest benefits of an open, democratic society (a society free of secret police and informants) is that political movements, like Jobbik, are out in the open. In a repressive environment, they would likely go to ground. Underground, to be more precise. And while they would disappear from sight, they would not disappear.
What is frightening about Jobbik, is not just their views and beliefs but also their oblivion to the shame they bring on the very country they say they are there to protect. If one didn’t know better, one might think they skipped the history class on the 20th century. What would be most telling about Jobbik would be if one could get their leaders and party members to answer one simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question. “If history were to repeat itself, would you be part of shipping your fellow countrymen (who happened to be Jewish or Roma) off to the likes of Auschwitz?”
Yes? Or no?
Care to speculate what an honest answer might be?
Three Years on Mars 