OPINION:
Recent news that a public university in Budapest, Hungary, invited former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an event should enrage not only Jews, but all peace-loving people.
Since Hungary is home to approximately 100,000 Jews, most of whom live in Budapest, the Hungarian government should take exception to such a visit. Iran supports both Hamas and Hezbollah in these terrorist groups’ continued war against Israel.
Hungary lost some 600,000 Jews during the Holocaust. These individuals should never be forgotten. Ludovika University students should have learned from this terrible history not to copy the chaotic antisemitism now on display in universities across the U.S., Canada, Australia, some European countries and Latin America.
It should not be forgotten that Sweden’s Raoul Wallenberg — once a student himself at the University of Michigan — would later lead the rescue of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. Wallenberg’s contribution to Hungary, a former Axis country allied with Nazi Germany during World War II, should be a reminder of any possible appeasement of Iran.
Antisemitism is taught; it is not innate. It can and should be overcome, exemplified by a biblical source that shows Jews and gentiles existing peacefully together as one because of what Christ did on the cross. If only that lesson could be not only learned, but also put into action.
BERNARD BUDNEY
Temecula, California
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