Hungary condemns anti-Semitic soccer chants, but will not prosecute
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 Hungarian Prime Minister Victor
Orban's website on Tuesday 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 occasions during
the game, including when Israel's national anthem, Hatikva, was played. Various
videos from the match that were placed on YouTube show fans also calling out
chants in praise of Palestinians.
Orban said in his statement that the government
"takes action to eliminate all forms of discrimination" whenever
possible, and "speaks out against provocative or insulting actions which
are not in direct violation of the law, and therefore not subject to immediate
intervention from the authorities."
In April, a leading soccer club from The Hague banned,
under orders from a Dutch court, eight soccer fans from entering the city's
soccer stadium for five to 10 years. They had been identified through research
by the authorities after calling out anti-Semitic chants, including,
"Hamas, Jews to the gas."
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