Antisemitism Monitor | Week of September 11, 2023

Recently, a small town in the far northwest of the Republic of Ireland was shocked to discover antisemitic graffiti. Located at the convergence of Blacksod Bay and Broadhaven Bay, Belmullet is a town of only 1,000. In late August, the town was outraged and disgusted by a swastika and racial slurs that had been painted onto the window of a doctor’s office as well as on a nearby bench. It is not known if the doctor is Jewish. Authorities quickly removed the offensive messages.

The University of Lucerne in Lucerne, Switzerland, is hiring a Jewish Studies professor but will only be accepting Catholic applicants, as has been its practice in the past. Their justification is that the Jewish Studies professorship is within the Department of Theology, which is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church and thus only permits those with a background in Catholicism (e.g. a doctorate in Catholic theology) to become faculty in the department. Jackie Hajdenberg of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently wrote that the department “prohibits non-Catholic professors from teaching ‘doctrinal’ courses such as philosophy, liturgy, scripture, Catholic theology and fundamental theology. That includes teaching about non-Christian religions like Judaism.” One solution, says professor emeritus Alfred Bodenheimer, would be to nestle Jewish Studies into the Department of Philosophy, where there are no faith-based requirements for faculty. Bodenheimer, who is Jewish and worked at the University from 1997 to 2003, realized that his career opportunities at the University of Lucerne would be limited by the Department of Theology’s strict rules around non-Catholic faculty and moved to the more accepting University of Basel. In Lucerne, until Bodenheimer’s suggested solution (or something similar) is accepted by the university, the position will remain open to Catholics only.

János Lázár, Hungary’s construction and transportation minister, praised Miklos Horthy, Hungary’s leader during World War II and an ally of Adolf Hitler, during a speech at a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of Horthy’s reburial, calling him “a true Hungarian patriot.” Lázár is not the only Hungarian official to have publicly shown support for Horthy’s legacy: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called Horthy an “exceptional statesman” during a speech in 2017. In a social media post, David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, wrote, “The United States is concerned by the participation of a senior Orbán government official in efforts to rehabilitate and promote [Horthy’s] brutal legacy.” Israel’s ambassador to Hungary also posted on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the incident, saying that Lázár’s glorification of Horthy “has no place in a modern Hungary.”