Days after one of his colleagues admitted to having Jewish roots, a far-right Hungarian politician challenged a rabbi in the country to a debate.
Gabor Vona, the leader of the Hungarian nationalist party Jobbik, said he wants to show Shlomo Koves, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi who heads the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation, that Jobbik is not anti-Semitic. Koves’ group is one of three Jewish streams officially recognized by the state
“Jobbik has never had and will never have any program point, proposal or idea which discriminates between Hungary’s inhabitants on the grounds of ethnicity and religion,” Vona told the website Politics.hu.
Jobbik members have used anti-Semitic rhetoric repeatedly in the past. Politics.hu reported that Koves wants to organize Jews and other Hungarians to combat anti-Semitism.
Last week, a regional leader of Jobbik, Csanad Szegedi, revealed that he is of Jewish descent.
UPDATE 7/5/12 at 1:50pm from Algemeiner.com:
In an interview with The Algemeiner, Rabbi Shlomo Koves, the Hungarian Chabad Rabbi who was challenged to a debate this week by Gabor Vona, leader of Jobbik, a Hungarian nationalist, Neo-Nazi party, has outright declined the request.
“Here is a party which makes openly anti-Semitic comments,” he said, “what is there to debate about.”
“They say they want to have an open talk, but in every debate you need a point of agreement, I cant have a mathematical debate if you don’t agree that 1 and 1 is 2 and 2 and 2 is four,” he continued, “they consider certain extreme ideas as facts than what should I debate them on?”
“Why should I respond and give them a platform to say that ‘the rabbi says they are not anti-Semitic’,” he concluded.
Koves implied that he would be open to the idea of discussion, if the party publicly expressed regret for anti-Semitic comments that have been made in its name, and resolved to cease from bigoted statements in the future, “If they send a letter that says that they regret their anti-Semitic comments from before, then there may be something to discuss,” he said.
The party has denied public accusations of Antisemitism, but the rabbi says these claims are irrelevant, “they say anti-Semitic comments and they make people hate me because I am a Jew, it makes a difference to me what they say.”
He also added that his general feeling is, that Hungary is not a particularly bad place for Jews to live, “on the street level,” he said, “The climate in Hungary for Jews is not bad, and isn’t worse than any other European country, I am not going to get hit on the street as a Jew, and there are no laws against shechita or circumcision.”
He did however find the direction of public discourse to be displaying troubling signs, “the fact that there is an extreme right wing party and a lot of anti-Semitic ideas in public discourse is concerning.” “It didn’t start today” he added, “but in the last five to ten years.”
Koves also confirmed to The Algemeiner that he has not received any communication from Jobbik or any of its representatives now or in the past, “I still didn’t get an official letter or request,” he said, “they wrote about the challenge in their paper and held a press conference to announce it.”
I guess he thought that he couldn’t handle the debate which i guess is better than being embarrassed but if someone offers a discussion and you can prove your case then you accept it.
If it’s true that he’s an anti semite and you have proof then why not show it?
#11
IT WAS HIS BROTHERS BROTHER.
It was The Rosh’s brother. That was a specific exception.
The Rebbe did tell The Rosh that he is to participate against J for J
Did you read the article? it is the goy calling the Shliach not the other way round! Who said he accepted the debate.
I am not related, but sickened by all this self hate
Only question to be asked,
and till u cant find one, look and see what the rebbe writes about it….
only what to lose, not to gain,
though it may be fun…
only years ago, when jews ware forced by govermants did they debate, read the Hakdomos from those Vikuchim
he is a master at this and very wiseB’H
History repeating itself
What are they debating?
the debates throughout the era of the spanish inquisition…
sounds bad…….
debates between jews and non-jews in big cities in europe have a bad consonance for me. It reminds me the stories of R’ Yechiel miPariz and other geoinim that have been chalenged. While their success was never acknoledged.
I am sure the Rabbi will win hands down. Hashem never sleeps or slumbers when it comes to Jewish issues such as this.
That’s Right, rile the Jobbik party even more! Every shliach should be aware that the Rebbe’s policy was always “QUIET DIPLOMACY, not street marches, protests, or public debates.