A group of radical protesters who oppose the coronavirus vaccination efforts have intensified their activities in recent days in the hope of casting this national campaign as a new form of persecution on a level similar to that endured by the Jews in 1930s and 1940s.
On Wednesday, ahead of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day, many changed their profile picture to a Yellow Star of David to allege that the vaccine effort has created discrimination similar to what happened after the rise of Nazi Germany, when Jews had to wear a special Star of David as a means of singling them out.
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The Star of David they have been using also bears the writing "I am not vaccinated – I will bear a yellow pass." This is apparently in protest of the government's decision to issue "green passes" to those who have been fully vaccinated. Tghese passes allow access to various services and let their holders avoid certain restrictions that have been in place since the start of the pandemic.
The effort to taint the preferential treatment of those who have received the vaccines as a form of genocidal action stems from the claim that the vaccines are not safe, a claim that has been disproven. Such sentiment among anti-vaxxers has also been common among US activist groups.
When the suggestion was raised in February that a yellow Star of David be worn, Israel's Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said that he was shocked at how they dare compare the Holocaust to the current effort to make people healthy. "The government has been providing a vaccine that people are fighting over around the world, and they dare compare this to the horrors of the Nazis?" he asked in bewilderment. "They are a bunch of crazies and unhinged people; they are inflicting harm on everyone!"
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