The Holocaust Is Not A Religious Tool

Protests have broken out across Israel by members of the ultra-Orthodox community in response to government efforts to uphold civil law. Sparked by issues of women’s dress and behavior on public streets in largely ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, the protests are driven by neighborhood residents who demand that their understanding of Jewish religious law replace civil law when it comes to these issues.

Over the weekend protesters began to express their anger in a particularly grotesque, but tragically not new way: portraying themselves as Holocaust victims.

The image of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews putting on yellow stars and stripped pajamas reminiscent of those worn in Nazi concentration camps is upsetting, to say the least. But perhaps even more upsetting is the fact that this practice is neither new nor limited to one particular segment of the Jewish community. In many ways, it’s old hat.