Anti-Vaxxers Are Using a Holocaust-Era Star of David as a Symbol of Persecution

In a desperate new low to gain attention, anti-vaxxers are now appropriating the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust to support their cause.

Activists are using a star that has the words “No Vax” in Hebrew-stylized letters on social media, while others are wearing yellow stars at events, according to a Friday report by the Anti-Defamation League.

Del Bigtree, CEO of the anti-vaccination group ICAN, wore a yellow star last week at a rally in Austin, Texas, and activists in suburban New York’s Rockland County likened a ban on unvaccinated children in public spaces to combat a measles outbreak to Nazi treatment of Jews, The Washington Post reported.

The ADL slammed the comparisons.

“It is simply wrong to compare the plight of Jews during the Holocaust to that of anti-vaxxers,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the group’s national director, told the Post. “Groups advancing a political or social agenda should be able to assert their ideas without trivializing the memory of the 6 million Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust.”

This shouldn’t have to be said, but apparently it’s necessary: Wanting to rid the planet of measles is nothing like wanting to rid the planet of Jews.

No one is trying to rid the planet of anti-vaxxers (at least, not through genocide), either. Furthermore, vaccines are meant to save lives, not end them. It’s sadly ironic how anti-vaxxers see themselves as the victims, when really, every medical professional worth his or her training is simply trying to help them and their kids live longer, healthier lives.