Wednesday 26 May 2021
Anti racists to protest visit by antisemitic Islamophobic Hungarian leader Viktor Orbàn: Friday 28 May, Downing Street, 10am
Supporters of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) plan to protest outside Downing Street on Friday when Boris Johnson welcomes Hungary’s far right prime minister Viktor Orbán.
Orbàn is a known antisemite who has pushed the idea of a world Jewish conspiracy, using banker George Soros’s name – a widely recognised antisemitic trope.
In 2018 Orbán ran an antisemitic election campaign based on “defending Hungary” from becoming an “immigrant nation”. He said Hungary was under threat from what “George Soros’ workshops have planned for us”.
Orbán combines his antisemitism with racism towards Roma people and Islamophobia—referring to Muslims as “invaders” and refugees as “poison”.
Anti racists are protesting Orbán’s visit and say that Hungary’s far right, antisemitic and Islamophic leader is not welcome, and that no British prime minister should be welcoming Orbán. Anti racists point to the fact that Johnson is going ahead with the meeting as reflecting the racist populism being pushed by his administration – and just as the Tory party is found in an enquiry to have a serious problem with Islamophobia.
Weyman Bennett, co convenor Stand Uo To Racism, said
“Orbán is a racist, and has been a prominent spokesperson for the far right from a position of power as a prime minister of Hungary. He has been a galvaniser for the far right and fascist forces we have seen across Europe, the US and wider, seeking to grow out of the chaos of the political crisis. Orbàn has combined vicious Islamophobia, and attacks on migrants and Roma communities, with articulating antisemitism as a world view.
“We in the anti racist movement – who have just organised mass #TakeTheKnee action yesterday to commemorate George Floyd a year on from his racist murder, and said that the #UKisNotInnocent and we must fight institutional racism – are not suprised to see Johnson welcome this racist. It is a reflection of Johnson’s cabinet’s conscious efforts to turn back the clock on racism. This is a prime minister and a cabinet who denied institutional racism in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and who are implementing horrific and cruel immigration policy with the return of dawn raids in our communities. They have just been found to be institutionally racist in the report from the enquiry on Islamophobia in the Tory party.
“So we are not suprised to see Johnson welcome this dangerous far right antisemite and Islamophobe. But we are determined to oppose this visit and to stand up against all forms of racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism and to oppose the far right.”
For more information, interviews and further quotes:
info@standuptoracism.org.uk
