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Hundreds Rally Against Anti-Semitism in Hungary

Categories: Eastern & Central Europe, Hungary, Citizen Media, Digital Activism, Ethnicity & Race, Freedom of Speech, Governance, History, Human Rights, Law, Politics, Protest
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Budapest, Hungary: the protest against anti-Semitism. Photo by David Ferenczy, copyright © Demotix (27/11/2012).

On Nov. 27, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Parliament in Budapest (photos [2]) to protest a Hungarian far-right MP's call [3] “for Jews to be registered on lists as threats to national security [4].” Some of the protesters wore yellow Stars of David. The rally took place despite the removal of the Facebook event page for it by Facebook admins.

According to Millamedia [5] [hu], the news site of ‘One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary’ [hu [6], en [7]], the event page had been removed due to misunderstanding of the meaning of the event's profile picture: the Star of David with the word ‘Jude’ (German for ‘Jew’) on it, which alluded to the Nazi WWII practice [8] of forcing Europe’s Jews to wear yellow stars as “badges of shame” – and was used by the protesters not to offend, but in protest against anti-Semitism in Hungary [9].