According to reports received by the Action and Protection Foundation, several antisemitic atrocities have been committed recently against Israeli students at the Budapest Veterinary University, TEV reported.
At an international open day held on May 11, antisemitic leaflets denying the existence of the state of Israel were distributed at the Palestinian students’ stand. The two-page leaflet describes Palestinian social customs, traditions, art, culture and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
It also states that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, known as the Nakba or „catastrophe,” fundamentally changed Palestinian society. The loss of territory, the establishment of refugee camps, and emigration to the Gulf countries, Europe and the United States have posed a major challenge to traditional Palestinian values and customs, the pamphlet explains.
The back of the leaflet additionally features a map showing Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, with Arabic as its official language and Arab inhabitants.
The map identifies the entire territory of the present State of Israel as Palestinian territory, located „between Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean” and being of „strategic” importance.
In March, a heated debate erupted between Israeli and Palestinian students on the university’s student Facebook page Univet – Confessions, which is run by the students and not the university. At the center of the controversy were aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and the war crimes allegedly committed by Israel.
The discourse escalated to the point where Israeli students claimed that the administrators of the site had after a while blocked their posts about Israel as inappropriate, while Palestinian students were allowed to continue posting about Israel. One Israeli was heard expressing his outrage in a private message.
„We are good Israelis when we keep quiet. If we ask you to delete content that portrays our country in a negative light, we are considered black sheep.”
– he wrote.
The administrators’ response was „yes, thank you for your comments!”
A former Israeli student who was privately contacted via e-mail due to his opinions expressed on the site was called a
„land-grabber” and „Zionist” just because he wrote that Jews are dying in the conflict and his own family is in danger from the rockets.
According to him, the Facebook page in question was not set up to express political views, and if users receive antisemitic comments, moderators should be obliged to delete them.
The events have finally led to the administrators deleting all content related to Israel and Palestine from the site as of May 16. According to their post, they tried to make room for a „mature, civilized debate,” but due to some „black sheep,” this failed. They say that they are neutral on all political issues and are working hard to moderate in a neutral way, but they are human and will no longer tolerate abusive, hateful comments. Also, in the future, they will ban anyone, no matter what side they’re on, who „chooses to actively magnify any aggression or advocate extremist views.”
In yet a third case, TEV received a report of antisemitic graffiti drawn on the wall of an Israeli veterinary student’s residence following an online debate. Above the graffiti, which depicted a Star of David hanging from a gallows, the words „fucking Jewish Fidesz” were written.
