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Budapest: Pro-Terror Protest Rerouted Away From Chabad Event

A planned Pro-Terror demonstration in Budapest was rerouted after concerns were raised that it would pass directly alongside major Jewish community events taking place in the Hungarian capital. The events include “Synagogue Week” and the 10th annual “International Cholent Market,” organized by the city’s Shluchim and the Association of Orthodox Jewish Communities in Hungary • Full Story, Photos

“Synagogue Week” opened this week in Budapest alongside the “International Cholent Market,” two major events aimed at connecting Hungary’s approximately 100,000 Jews with synagogues and Jewish tradition. The Cholent Market, now in its tenth year, is organized by the city’s Shluchim and initiated by EMIH, headed by Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Koves.

Over the years, the Cholent Market has become one of Hungary’s largest Jewish cultural events. Admission is free, and visitors are introduced to Jewish culture, tradition and cuisine through booths featuring Mehudar kosher food. Tens of thousands of local residents attend each year, including non-Jews interested in experiencing Jewish culture, with attendance continuing to grow.

This year, amid Hungary’s dramatic political transition and the departure of longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a local singer, Gergely Komáromi, announced plans last week for a demonstration coinciding with the opening of the events. The protest was announced under the slogan “Együtt az Igazságért Palesztinától Budapestig” – “Together for Justice, from Palestine to Budapest.”

The announcement sparked anger within the Jewish community over what was viewed as a deliberate provocation. Hungarian Jewish community leaders stressed that there is a significant difference between an ordinary political demonstration and holding one directly within a Jewish community event in the heart of the Jewish quarter.

“This is a dangerous, malicious and ugly provocation intended to hurt the Jewish community while Hungarian Jews are gathering to celebrate together,” community figures said.

The controversy intensified following a demonstration held in Budapest the previous week by the same anti-Israel organization, calling for the release of Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Protesters described his detention as mistreatment of a medical professional. Israel’s ambassador to Hungary, Maya Kadosh, countered that Abu Safiya was not a doctor but a Hamas lieutenant colonel, and said Kamal Adwan Hospital had served as a base for terrorist activity.

Chief Rabbi and Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Koves responded: “When an anti-Israel protest deliberately enters the physical space of a local Jewish event, a dangerous red line has been crossed. The initial decision to hold such a demonstration precisely at the location and time of one of the city’s largest public Jewish events raises concern over the boundary between political protest, even when false and illegitimate, and directing the confrontation toward local Jews.”

He added that the issue is particularly concerning given the experience of Western European countries in recent years, where anti-Israel demonstrations have increasingly become a vehicle for hostile harassment of local Jewish communities.

The public outcry ultimately led to a change in the demonstration route. The route that had initially been approved to pass near the opening of the Jewish events was moved in order to prevent antisemitic harassment of Hungarian Jews.

Rabbi Koves welcomed the authorities’ decision to recognize the sensitivity of the situation and reroute the march.

Rabbi Koves said that the response to such incidents “is not to hide Jewish life or retreat from the public sphere, but precisely the opposite.” He emphasized that Hungary’s Jewish community is an integral part of the country’s social fabric and has the full right to openly and proudly practice its culture, religion and communal life without becoming a target for antisemitic protests.

“The message of the market and Synagogue Week remains what it was from the beginning: Jewish culture belongs in Budapest’s public sphere,” Rabbi Koves said. “The Jewish community will not give up its right to live openly Jewish lives, both in Budapest and throughout Hungary.”

He added that Hungary continues to be safe for Jews and Israelis, while cautioning that the community must remain vigilant. “The pro-terror protests at the moment are mainly the provocation of one individual, but we need to remain alert. They are constantly testing whether the atmosphere of tolerance toward Jews and the strong stance against antisemitism are still in effect.”

The Cholent Market also served as the opening event for “Synagogue Week,” which continues for two weeks and centers on the days of Selichos and the Days of Mercy taking place throughout the Jewish world. As part of the initiative, synagogues throughout Budapest’s Jewish quarter are opening their doors to large numbers of visitors.

Two new synagogues are also scheduled to be inaugurated in the Hungarian capital in the coming days. One will be the first of its kind in the world, designed and operated entirely by young people.

“The synagogue’s Gabbai will be under 18, as will the ‘community president’ and the other officeholders,” EMIH said.

“The goal is to give young people the opportunity to manage their own community themselves, with a youthful spirit, rather than having ‘adults’ manage them,” organizers explained. “This is intended to help young Hungarians see the Jewish community as their home, particularly after some have avoided regular synagogues because they did not find their place among older congregants.”

The synagogue is part of the growing international Jewish CTeen movement. Its rabbi will be the only “adult” involved in leadership, Rabbi Tzami Basman, who is in his early 30s.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pilot of its kind anywhere in the world,” Rabbi Basman said. “I am certain that after Hungary, it will inspire many communities around the world.”