Sunday 3 March 2013

By their supporters you will know them



There is a reply to Zsolt Bayer's article (see the previous post) in the Mandiner by Eszter Babarczy here. It is in Hungarian and I won't translate it, just to say that it begins with Bayer's use of the term fehér keresztény "faj" (meaning white Christian "race") and argues that, even in inverted commas, the term "race" suggests a nazi ideology. She then picks him up on the idea that everything is the fault of the '68 generation and mocks his mathematics in apparently conflating the '68 generation with the perpetrators / victims of 1919.

It's OK, not a great article, not fully thought through, and it lays itself open. My own feeling is that Bayer's racism and anti-Semitism is perfectly real but subtler in its expression - more a case of association and demagogic temper  - than she tries to show.

It is subtle in expression but violent in temper and effect. The true beasts of his field hear his call and howl back in their own less subtle way. And that howling is what you get from the mass of comments almost all by supporters of Bayer.

I translate a few choice phrases from the comments:

A zsidó meg leírta,leírja és hangoztatja, hogy ők a kiválasztottak. - The Jews have written, continue to write and claim that they are the chosen people..
BZs nem cigányozik, nem zsidózik (akik, ugyan vannak bőven, itt is!).Ő csak azokat nem szereti, akik zsidóságuk, cigányságuk mögé bújva próbálnak megúszni vétkeket, bűnöket. - Bayer does not accuse gypsies, or Jews (though there are plenty of them here). He just dislikes those who try to cover their crimes by hiding behind their Gypsy or Jewish identity
Aki a fekete kisebbség érdekeit védi, az kóser, aki a cigány kisebbség érdekeit védi, az kóser,aki a muszlim bevándorlók érdekeit védi, az kóser, aki a zsidó (saját magát fajilag meghatározó) kisebbség érdekeit védi, az is kóser. Aki az ezek közé be nem sorolható, lassan kisebbséget alkotó fehérek érdekeit védené, sőt egyáltalán a létezésüket is még feltételezni meri, az már viszont tréfli. - Those who defend the black minority are kosher; those who defend the gypsy minority are kosher, those who defend Muslim immigrants are kosher, those who defend the Jews (who define themselves by their race) are kosher. Those who would defend others, meaning the soon-to-be-minority of white people, who even dare defend their very existence are called scum. 
*[GS Hungary's population 2013 projected at 9.95 million; Jewish population between 50,000-100,000, ie less than 1%; Roma population of Hungary c 5-10%; Muslim population of Hungary c 0.03%,; black population of Hungary: negligible]
Esztike, kicsi vagy te a Zsótihoz!!! Menjél szépen oszt főzz meg a családnak!! - Eszti baby, you're no match for Zsolt, now go quietly and cook a meal for the family.
..erkölcstelenek vagytok, hazudtok, loptok, másokat besároztok, hatalmaskodtok...Mentek a böszme után, becsületes jószándékú magyart még egyszer nem vertek át, hitetlen kutyák! - You have no morals, you lie, you steal, you besmirch the names of others, you play the big guy...go follow the monster you faithless dogs. Decent, honest Hungarians will not be bossed by you again.
Tökmindegy hogy nevezzük őket, Magyarországon is van fővárosi zsidó szubkultúra, amelyik a rendszerváltás óta megpróbálja a saját képére formálni az országot - Who cares what you call them, there is a Jewish subculture in Hungary too that ever since the change of system [1989] has been trying to shape the country in its own image.
...jó az neked, hogy napi 24 órában epét hánysz tök feleslegesen? Nem lenne netán számodra testhezállóbb a Negev-sivatagban médiaelméleti órákat adni a sűrű sorokban türemkedő érdeklődőknek? - Do you think it healthy to spout useless bile 24 hours a day? Wouldn't it suit you better to give lessions in media studies to rows of attentive listeners in the Negev desert?


Which all goes to show, of course, that Bayer's supporters are by no means racist, sexist or anti-Semitic. These commenters are in a vast majority on the website article. 

This is Bayer's constituency that he looks to manipulate from his Fidesz base with full support from prime minister Orbán.



2 comments:

Gwil W said...

There is only one race and it is the human race. Everything else is bollocks.

George S said...

Good enough for me, Gwilym.