Hungarian citizens hold up a placard reading 'They devastated together the country' 'Once it was already enough' 'We don't forget it' during a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Budapest on December 2 , 2012 against anti-Semitism in Hungary. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
(TheBlaze/AP) -- Thousands attended an anti-Nazi rally Sunday in Hungary organized by Jewish and civic groups to protest one lawmaker's recent call to screen Jews for national security risks.
The rally was particularly unusual because politicians from both the government and opposition parties shared a stage outside parliament.
Marton Gyongyosi of the (European) far-right Jobbik party said last Monday in the legislature that it is time "to assess ... how many people of Jewish origin there are here, and especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk."
A young boy holds a Hungarian tricolor in front of a placard of Hungarian far-right parliament representative Marton Gyongyosi during a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Budapest on December 2 , 2012 against anti-Semitism in Hungary. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Gyongyosi issued something of an apology to his "Jewish compatriots" for the statement, but added that Hungary still needs to be wary of "Zionist Israel and those serving it also from here."
Hungary's Jewish population is now estimated to be roughly 100,000, after between 550,000 and 600,000 were killed in the Holocaust.
Antal Rogan, parliamentary faction leader of the governing Fidesz party, addressed the crowd, which Hungarian media estimated at over 10,000 people.
"I came because in this situation I cannot stay quiet," Rogan said. "Hungary defends its citizens."
Hungarian citizens wearing a yellow star take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Budapest on December 2 , 2012 against anti-Semitism in Hungary. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Rogan said he would take his two sons to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where it is estimated that one-third of the Nazis' victims were Hungarian.
Some posters held by protesters mocked Gyongyosi by showing him with a Hitler moustache, and the crowd chanted "Jobbik go away!"
Attila Mesterhazy said his opposition Socialist Party would boycott Parliament's foreign affairs committee as long as Gyongyosi remained its vice chairman. He also called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban to address the issue in Parliament next week.
Hungarian citizens take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Budapest on December 2 , 2012 against anti-Semitism in Hungary. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Jobbik president Gabor Vona, however, said the protest was part of an "artificially induced campaign of lies" meant to divert attention away from Hungary's economic problems and that the groups that took part in the rally wanted to "destroy" Jobbik.
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