Among Budapest’s trendy bistros, cafes and bars stands the world’s second largest synagogue. Like the Lower East Side of Manhattan or the East End of London, urban gentrification has had its way with Budapest’s District VII, transforming the once run-down area into a neighborhood of pricey coffees and young artists whose signature works appear to be their hair. Yet despite the neighborhood’s profound changes, one rare constant has remained: the 154-year-old Dohány Street …More

The head of Hungary’s Raoul Wallenberg Association said he was beaten at a soccer match in Budapest. Ferenc Orosz told the Hungarian news agency MTI during a conference Monday on hate speech that “first he was verbally assaulted and then his nose was broken after a match at Budapest’s Puskas Stadium which he attended with his family” the previous day. MTI quoted Orosz as saying that soccer fans standing near him “were chanting for Mussolini and ‘Sieg Heil.’” The …More

Members of the student council of the University of Budapest reportedly have compiled illegal lists of students’ presumed religion, ethnic background including Jewish origins, and political affiliation. The files were compiled annually on freshmen by the HÖK student council, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Hungarian television channel ATV, which received a copy of a full list from 2009. Another column contained the letters I/N-–Hungarian for Y/N, or “Yes/No”--and is …More

The Jewish community of Budapest said it will build a new synagogue for the first time in 80 years. The foundation stone for the new synagogue in Budapest’s Csepel district was scheduled to be laid Sunday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Senior government officials were expected to join Hungarian Jewish leaders at the ceremony. “It attests as to the vitality of the Jewish community,” read an announcement about the event on the website of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, …More

Jewish leaders mourn the passing of Sen. Inouye, who died at 88. [Arutz Sheva] The Jewish Museum in NY will offer pay-what-you-can Mondays. [GalleristNY] Likud Beiteinu is holding strong, despite Avigdor Lieberman's charges. [Times of Israel] A poll shows most Israelis--58 percent--support a two-state solution. [JPost] A Hungarian airline offers a low-cost Budapest to Tel Aviv route. [Jewish Journal] A man is charged with stealing beer from a Jewish center. [Uniontown Herald Standard] "Jewish Summer Camp …More

A Hungarian lawmaker with links to the ultranationalist Jobbik Party reportedly was detained after burning an Israeli flag in Budapest. Balazs Lenhardt, who left Jobbik last month, burned the flag at a demonstration by far-rightists on Dec. 14. He was released shortly after questioning when he declined to waive his parliamentary immunity, the Hungarian news agency Magyar Tavirati Iroda reported. According to the report, Lenhardt, who is serving in parliament as an independent, was taken into custody on suspicion …More

A Hungarian radio station is praising a recent attack on a Jewish leader in Budapest. Andras Kerenyi, president of a local chapter of the Budapest Jewish Faith Community, was verbally and physically attacked while leaving synagogue Friday evening. He sustained minor injuries. Two suspects have already been arrested in connection to the crime. The pair was charged with violent assault against a member of a community group. A director at the Hungarian Jewish Faith Communities told a news agency that the attackers …More

The Claims Conference accused Hungary’s government of “depriving” Holocaust survivors through “disgraceful” and “deceitful tactics.” The allegations came after Budapest demanded on Monday that the Claims Conference, an organization representing world Jewry in compensation talks on Holocaust-era crimes," return" $12.6 million to Hungary’s treasury. An announcement published on the website of the Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice cited …More

It's a relieved Judit Csaki from Budapest that calls journalists with the anticlimactic news: The dramatic news conference on state-sponsored anti-Semitism that she had scheduled for next week is canceled, as Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos has just announced the scrapping of plans to stage an anti-Semitic play at a city-funded theater. For the international journalists, her call merely means searching for a new item. For Csaki, a theater critic, and her peers, it is reassurance that someone in power still checks …More

Demonstrators from the ultra-rightist Jobbik Party shouted anti-Semitic slogans during a demonstration in Budapest. The demonstration Sunday came on the fifth anniversary of the foundation of the ultra-rightist, xenophobic, paramilitary Hungarian Guard, which is banned by Hungarian law. Gabor Vona, a Jobbik leader and a co-founder of the Hungarian Guard, delivered a nationalist speech in front of about 200 demonstrators. Some shouted anti-Semitic slogans against dozens of counter-protesters. The demonstration …More

Hungary's government has condemned anti-Semitic chants by soccer fans at a recent match in Budapest, but signaled it would not prosecute them. An announcement placed on Tuesday on the website of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban said that the government "condemns in the strongest possible terms the insulting behavior of certain Hungarian football fans during the friendly match between Israel and Hungary on 15 August." At least a few dozen fans were filmed chanting "dirty Jews" and "Buchenwald" at various …More

A Hungarian lawyer is calling for charges to be brought against Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top Nazi hunter. Solicitor Futo Barnabas claims Zuroff has made false allegations against Laszlo Csatary, according to a news report by conservative Hungarian publication Magyar Nemzet. Csatary is currently under investigation by Hungarian authorities for Nazi war crimes. He is also the SWC’s number one most wanted Nazi criminal. His whereabouts were recently uncovered thanks to efforts by a …More