The misappropriation of the Holocaust is complete

We have long bemoaned the fact that the Holocaust and its related imagery and symbolism has been misappropriated by myriad political groups and activists. Typically – but certainly not exclusively – this misappropriation has taken place in extreme Islamist circles, comparing the Israeli government to the Nazi party. Just last week, for example, we ran an editorial about Rep. Allen West, who compared the Democrat Party’s PR to Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda. Disgusting! Has West ever sat down and watched a Nazi-era propaganda film?

Several years ago, during the disengagement from Gaza, some residents of Gush Katif and other settlements in the area “tattoed” their forearms with numbers and affixed Jewish stars to their lapels – albeit in orange. Their message: expulsion from settlements was akin to Nazi policy of extermination.

And now, last week, in the heart of Jerusalem, charedi protesters thoroughly ridiculed and disgraced the memory of their fellow Jewish brothers and sisters who were murdered in the Holocaust. What were they protesting, in their clownish concentration camp uniforms and yellow “Jude” stars? What they claim is a media bias against their community.  All we can deduce, according to their actions, is that Israeli dailies are the modern-day equivalents of Der Angriff or Der Stürmer. As with West, we wonder if any of these protesters ever read the words of Goebbels or Streicher, before so easily smearing that vilest of labels on someone else?

This self-misappropriation reveals such a deep lack of respect for Jews and Jewish history that it’s almost a self-removal from the Jewish nation. And one thing is certainly clear: after this, the charedi community can never again protest comparisons from PETA, Arab countries, or pro-Palestinian groups that misuse Holocaust imagery and vocabulary in their messages.

*Update* A Knesset committee has approved a measure that would prohibit the use of Holocaust and Nazi terms and symbols. Read the full story