No stranger to controversy, polemicist Zsolt Bayer, has been accused of writing an anti-Semitic screed in conservative daily Magyar Hírlap, Index.hu reports.

One hundred people signed a petition and turned it over to Magyar Hírlap owner Gábor Széles, asking him if he is willing to finance a newspaper that openly publishes anti-Semitic remarks. They further asked him to clarify his position on the question, and claim that Bayer's piece contains the most openly anti-Semitic comments since the Second World War. (The entire letter and list of signatories can be reviewed at antifasizmus.extra.hu.)

In the opinion piece in question (in Hungarian), Bayer, who is regularly described as being of Jewish background himself, lashed out at Jewish journalists who he feels sully the reputation of Hungary and shield themselves by claiming their challengers are anti-Semitic. He further added that the existence of these journalists makes anti-Semitism understandable.

The awkwardly-phrased piece appears to be against Jewish journalists Bayer dislikes, who he describes as "urinating into the national swimming pool," and not against people of the Jewish faith in general. Nonetheless, its ability to be interpreted in different ways has been one of the main points of contention.

András Stumpf, the editor of right-leaning weekly Heti Válasz, called some of Bayer's statements anti-Semitic, even if he doesn't believe Bayer is anti-Semitic himself, further adding that he finds the whole episode regrettable.

In response to Bayer's piece, Budapest mayor Gábor Demszky on Wednesday announced that he believed the piece to be anti-Semitic and representative of the newspaper's editors, and consequently he would cancel his subscription, Népszabadság wrote in a follow-up piece. Demszky added that he will no longer give interviews to the newspaper, which in the past he only withheld from Demokrata and Magyar Fórum.

Democratic Forum chairwoman Ibolya Dávid, in an open letter sent to Index.hu, called Bayer's piece revolting and unacceptable, going on to apologize to the nation on the behalf of Hungary's Christians and the Right.

On Thursday afternoon, Magyar Hírlap owner Gábor Széles himself issued an open letter in response to the one directed at him on the newspaper's website (in Hungarian). While denouncing anti-Semitism and extremist politics, he also said that trying to label anyone who disagrees with the Left a fascist is an overused tactic.

Széles continued that the previous week focused on Bayer's piece, not what caused them in the first place, which he said were the comments of Rudolf Ungváry, which according to Széles were that if Fidesz were to win the next election, a dictatorship would return to Hungary. Széles admitted that Bayer's piece was strongly worded and too open to interpretation and said people are welcome to challenge it, at the same time describing the entire incident as a modern day witch hunt, concluding that with his response, he considers the matter closed.

Under the ownership of Széles, Magyar Hírlap transformed from being a government-friendly daily primarily associated with the Free Democrats, to a conservative paper approximately a year ago. It has also witnessed a transfer of staff from rival conservative daily Magyar Nemzet, which was where Bayer himself previously wrote.

Bayer, for his part, has refused to apologize for his remarks, (in Hungarian).