Outrage in Hungary over Jewish register remark

Thousands of Hungarians turned out onto the streets of Budapest to protest against the country’s far-right Jobbik party after one of its members called for a register of Jews to be drawn up. The remarks were made after a debate earlier in the week on fighting in the Gaza Strip. They were later withdrawn claiming they had been misunderstood. But Sunday’s protesters remained angry: “This is a nazi party,” – said one. “They are reviving notions that during the Second World War led to the murder of 600,000 Jews. So far nobody has raised their voice against his party doing this openly.” Another explained why he had joined the protest: “I have come because eight members of my family were taken away by the Nazis and only four of them came home afterwards. I was a child, under six years old at the time and my mother had to raise me alone.” During the rally protesters watched scenes from a film about Jews being shot by Hungarian Nazis in 1944. The far-right Jobbik party has dismissed the protest as “political alarmist”.