According to a recent survey, antisemitism is on the rise, and, as a result of “Jobik’s influence”, antisemitic rhetoric has become more and more legitimate in public discourse. This is understandable, as without brainwashing no political support is possible.
Kovács András, a sociologist in the Central European University, systematically studies the rise and consolidation of anti-Jewish prejudice in Hungary. The Jewish-Hungarian magazine “Szombat” had featured his recent survey, from November 2011, in the front page.
According to his research, based on a sample of 1,200 individuals, 24% of all adult Hungarians find Jewish people repugnant, despite the fact that between 1993-2006 this number ranged between 10-14 percent. The relative rate of antisemitic prejudices had lowered somewhat during that period, relative to last year, though according to Kovács, this may have been affected by a large number of incidental daily events.
“The number of Hungarians who find Jews repugnant had significantly increased prior to the election years, a fact which indicates that political endeavors augment anti-Jewish sentiment; namely, the “Jewish Question” becomes a regular component of some political campaigns”, says Kovács.
According to the researcher, the specific contents of these prejudices and inclinations towards discrimination, also constitute an important indicator for antisemitism, the strength of which is made clear by considering all such factors together. It is possible that many people who dislike Jews are also antagonistic towards all foreign ethnicities, and thus their sentiments signify only a general xenophobic tendencies, and not antisemitic views specifically.
Ant-Jewish sentiments are identified more frequently as opposed to previous years, despite the fact that Jews are normally the least hated group amongst those negatively viewed (estimated to maintain a lower-than-average value on a nine-level scale). The only group enjoying absolute favor was the svábok (Germans of south German extraction). According to Kovács, the Hungarian society as a whole is xenophobic in nature, and it appears that anti-Jewish sentiments are on the rise.
The amount of extreme antisemites had increased after 2009 from 9% to 22%, and later, in 2011, decreased to 20%. At the same time, the number of those answering the question in the negative decreased substantially. Kovács argues that the relative amount of those with negative feelings towards Jews did not grow suddenly, and instead, the rate of those who accept responsibility and admit during the survey their anti-Jewish sentiments grew instead. As can be surmised, these changes are brought about because of “Jobik’s Influence”, namely, the legitimatization of antisemitic rhetoric in public discourse, a phenomenon which encourages many to make public their worldview, hitherto considered inappropriate and unseemly.
