But today, Orban has no words of gratitude for Soros. Rather, he has launched a vicious campaign against his former benefactor. And while his aggressive rhetoric is verging on anti-Semitism, the Hungarian prime minister has also - strangely enough - managed to weave in Islamophobic threads into his verbal attacks on Soros. And surprisingly (or not), this symbiosis of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia has been well received elsewhere in Europe and even the US.
Although Orban is said not to be anti-Semitic himself but rather deeply opportunistic, he has turned his former benefactor Soros into the ideal scapegoat for the Hungarian government's failures. Pushing for illiberal policies and anti-EU reforms, Orban has been using Soros' name in his populist rhetoric on a regular basis. He has been pandering to anti-Soros conspiracy theorists in Eastern and Central Europe, many of whom hold anti-Semitic views and enthusiastically spread their theories about "Jewish conspiracies" to dominate the world. [...]
While propagating anti-Semitic stereotypes, Orban has also managed to accuse Soros and the EU of wanting to "Muslimise" Europe. In a speech in late July, he said that the "Soros Empire" is using "money, people and institutions to transport migrants into Europe".
In Orban's rhetoric, Soros - and his alleged "co-conspirator" the EU - threaten the Christian character of Europe. "Europe is currently being prepared to hand its territory over to a new mixed, Islamised Europe. […] In order for this to happen, for the territory to be ready to be handed over, it is necessary to continue the de-Christianisation of Europe - and we can see these attempts," he said. [...]
Historically, Jews and Muslims have faced similar accusations, racist tropes and persecution. Western Europeans used both as a projection surface to imagine itself as racially pure, white and Christian. In medieval times, Jews were accused of well-poisoning to kill Christians and Muslims - of inciting them to do so. During the Reformation, Jews were portrayed as the companions of the devil who had entered into a pact with the Muslim Turks.
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