NEW ZEALAND
Holocaust distortion and anti-Semitism rife within anti-mandate protestsAndré Chumko
Feb 21 2022
STUFF
Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors are condemning the use of anti-Semitic material at anti-mandate protests and encouraging those present to be mindful of their language.
Comparison of vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during World War II, was not only disrespectful, it was wrong, said Holocaust Centre of New Zealand board chairwoman Deborah Hart.
In addition to Holocaust comparisons, a swastika was painted by protesters on the Seddon statue outside Parliament; staff at the Backbencher Gastropub had been called Nazis in a verbal tirade; and references have been made by protesters towards Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, calling her “Jewcinda”. Ardern is not Jewish.
At the Christchurch equivalent protest one main sign brandished by protesters referred to public hangings in Nuremberg, implying that journalists, politicians or those who worked in public health would have to stand trial as Nazis did. Anti-mandate protesters had also been misappropriating yellow stars, and were spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Hart said.
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
A swastika was painted on the Seddon statue at Parliament but was later removed.
READ MORE:
* Anti-vax protesters heckle Holocaust remembrance speech
STUFF
Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors are condemning the use of anti-Semitic material at anti-mandate protests and encouraging those present to be mindful of their language.
Comparison of vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during World War II, was not only disrespectful, it was wrong, said Holocaust Centre of New Zealand board chairwoman Deborah Hart.
In addition to Holocaust comparisons, a swastika was painted by protesters on the Seddon statue outside Parliament; staff at the Backbencher Gastropub had been called Nazis in a verbal tirade; and references have been made by protesters towards Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, calling her “Jewcinda”. Ardern is not Jewish.
At the Christchurch equivalent protest one main sign brandished by protesters referred to public hangings in Nuremberg, implying that journalists, politicians or those who worked in public health would have to stand trial as Nazis did. Anti-mandate protesters had also been misappropriating yellow stars, and were spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Hart said.
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
A swastika was painted on the Seddon statue at Parliament but was later removed.
READ MORE:
* Anti-vax protesters heckle Holocaust remembrance speech
“These kinds of comparisons really belittle what the Holocaust was,” she said, adding the anti-Semitic rhetoric was both concerning and disturbing.
Using the word Nazi to describe evil was also a “sloppy” comparison, which trivialised the Holocaust.
“The intent of the Nazis was to single out people on the basis of race and exterminate them. Vaccine mandates safeguard and ensure the health of everyone,” she said.
The use of the Holocaust for political ends did nothing to educate people about what the Holocaust was, and did not serve protesters’ motivations. The centre was calling on protesters to stop using Holocaust-related terminology immediately and “focus on what they’re concerned about”.
SIMON WOOLF
Holocaust survivor Inge Woolf, left, and her daughter Deborah Hart, who is the board chairwoman of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.
Earlier this year anti-vaccine protesters disrupted and hijacked International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations in Christchurch.
Hart said the worrying rhetoric stoked rising global anti-Semitism and extremism.
Many Holocaust survivors and their families called Aotearoa home, and the distortion of symbols and trivialisation of their experiences put them in danger.
“We worry that when people are feeling stressed and aggrieved, what often happens to Jewish people is they’re ... the first to be targeted,” she said.
Hart said it was time for people to be thoughtful about the words and symbols they used, so individuals could talk to one another about their differences in a measured, calm way.
The delivery of anti-Semitic pamphlets around Auckland's Remuera in the 1970s led to New Zealand's first conviction for hate speech.
“Words matter. What we say matters. It’s time for people of all political persuasions to take real care.”
An underlying anti-Jewishness “just comes out” when New Zealand society is under stress, said chairman of the Wellington Jewish Council David Zwartz.
While the majority of protesters were probably not anti-Jewish, some protesters were using the opportunity to push their hatred of Jews.
Seeing threatening anti-Semitic material would be enough to re-traumatise and hurt those who survived the Holocaust and their families who lived in Aotearoa, Zwartz said. “They started a new life, and yet they can’t get away from this old hatred.”
SUPPLIED
David Zwartz with former governor-general Dame Patsy Reddy. (File photo)
It also made local Jewish communities feel unwelcome and isolated; heightened their personal security concerns; and made them more fearful of going to their places of worship, including synagogues.
“This is not a country where that sort of thing should be happening.”
Last month the United Nations’ General Assembly approved a resolution condemning Holocaust distortion and denial.
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