The concept of Anti-Semitism has become confused in our day. There is a kind of three-fold debate over race-based Anti-Semitism associated with Right-wing ideology, Anti-Zionism opposed to the state of Israel and its policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians, and even some other forms of Anti-Semitism which often defy the Left/Right divide, focusing on the corrupt nature of Western Capitalist (or for some Globalist) society and the role Jews play in the banking, academic, and political world - and of course the Hollywood and media-entertainment complexes.
It's a bit confusing and most coverage either fails to reckon with a larger taxonomy, or simply compresses it all and then sticks the charge on this or that camp - which is unhelpful to say the least.
This piece piqued my interest because it's coming from a Jewish publication and thus provides a slightly different perspective and some interesting food for thought.
It starts with Florian Galdau, a Romanian fascist associated with Valerian Trifa (1914-1987) who after serving as Archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, fled pending deportation and lived his final years in Portugal. Galdau was (like Trifa) a member of the fascist Iron Guard and continued to support its efforts and ran recruiting and Anti-Communist campaigns among the Romanian communities in the United States.
The next prominent name mentioned is that of Laszlo Pasztor, the Hungarian fascist and former member of the Arrow Cross who fled to the United States and became closely intertwined with the Republican Party. He was a point man in the efforts to steer politics within the Eastern European communities of the United States - an effort which would also play out in terms of politics and ecclesiology in the nations behind the Iron Curtain. Pasztor would go on to work with figures such as Paul Weyrich to flood former Warsaw Pact nations with Western money in the 1990's - setting up political parties and machines that would steer these newly independent nations into the Western (EU and NATO) camp.
The story also references a mini-scandal that erupted in 1988 during GHW Bush's campaign for the presidency. The background of Pasztor and others came to light and the fact these men were close to the Vice-President and slated to share the stage with him was a cause of both embarrassment and offense. The reporting resulted in their quick and immediate withdrawal and an attempt to disassociate Bush from them.
Ironically, George W Bush quietly invited Pasztor (alongside NY Governor George Pataki) to the White House in 2006 for a screening of 'Children of Glory', a film about the 1956 Hungarian Uprising.
Fast forward to today and we find that things have changed significantly during the Trump era. For a time Kanye West openly expressed Anti-Semitic opinions and yet was not shunned by Trump. The article also mentions figures like Doug Mastriano and Blake Masters who only after significant pressure proved willing to disavow Andrew Torba the founder of Gab and a documented Anti-Semite.
Sebastian Gorka's appointment to Executive Assistant and later Counter-terrorism Advisor under both Trump administrations did generate some press coverage but the mainstream largely ignored Gorka's associations with the Far-Right. Hungary's post-WWI history and WWII record is a little complicated as is its legacy. After the break-up of the Habsburg Empire and a short-lived communist revolution, the new rump state of Hungary was taken over by Admiral Miklos Horthy in 1920 under the aegis of 'Regent'. He would rule until his ouster in October 1944. The fear of communism and a desire to recapture vast areas of lost Hungarian territory (in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon) led Horthy to ally with the Axis powers. Under Horthy, Hungarian troops participated in the June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union - his own son killed in an accident during the campaign. As defeat loomed in 1944 and the Soviets pressed on the borders of Hungary, Horthy tried to 'flip' and join the Allies. He was overthrown by Hitler and replaced by the radical fascist Ferenc Szálasi and his Arrow Cross regime - the party to which Laszlo Pasztor belonged.
Though an Anti-Semite, Horthy had only tepidly supported Hitler's push for Anti-Semitic policies and deportations. With the Arrow Cross in power, the gloves came off and there was a concentrated slaughter during the final months of the war and prior to Hungary's defeat at the hands of the Russians.
Horthy is sometimes labelled a fascist and in many respects he fits the bill - though his fascism is admittedly of a different stripe and character than that of Hitler. But many defend him as a 'conservative authoritarian' and thus the invocation of his name and the 'orders' associated with him (such as Vitez to which Gorka belongs) remain controversial. Both Gorka and Viktor Orban have praised Horthy - which is to some nothing less than scandalous. Whether Horthy was a Hitlerite or fascist is a subject that can be discussed. But that he did ally with Hitler during the war - this is indisputable, even if Hitler did eventually overthrow him. As stated, it's complicated. However, it could be argued that a general post-war intuition would suggest that figures like Horthy (though complicated) should not be celebrated. Obviously someone like Gorka would disagree.
The point is this - Gorka would not have been tolerated as a public figure during the Nixon-Reagan-Bush years of the GOP. They would have worked with him but wouldn't have wanted to stand on a public stage with him having his ideological background and associations on full display. That ethos (as flawed as it is) has certainly changed. Now there is no shame whatsoever.
That's the heart of this story and it's especially ironic when you see figures like Elise Stefanik leading the charge to call out American academics for campus Anti-Semitism even while affiliated with the likes of Gorka and other advocates of the Great Replacement Theory - which all too often traces back to an Anti-Semitic narrative.
American Evangelicals (many of whom are Dispensationalist) have been among the staunchest supporters of Israel and yet their own domestic political affiliations often overlap with some of the darkest elements of historical Anti-Semitism.
One would think that if the Jews really did control all of the media, there would be more noise about this. But instead one has to venture into the world of second-tier outlets and alternative media to get the story. That in itself is very interesting.
See also:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2024/10/washington-and-banderites.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-evangelical-pasztor.html
https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2017/10/ghosts-of-wwii-murderers-among-us-and.html
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