IS THIS A VALID COMPARISON?

One of my favorite stories from the tragic stories of WWII is a story out of Bulgaria. When the Jews in Bulgaria were forced to sow yellow stars of David on their clothes, the entire Bulgarian population decided to join with them and ruined the distinction the Nazis tried to create. One Jewish woman tells the testimony of coming in late to school and dreading walking in with her big yellow star on her jacket. As she entered the classroom, everyone turned toward her and she was amazingly surprised to see the same yellow star sown on every students clothing. That always reminds me there is still a lot of good in the world. Sometimes the really bad just brings it out! So, I guess we could call it “really bad” what is happening in Switzerland.

 The Islamic Central Council Of Switzerland (ICCS) was founded by a young Swiss convert to Islam shortly before the ban on minarets. They have decided to use a symbol that is very similar to the Jewish Star of David the Jews were forced to wear under the Nazis. It is part of a planned protest against “Islamophobia”.   In an attempt to draw parallels between the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany and Muslims in Switzerland  today, many participants will wear t-shirts and stickers with the word ‘Muslim’ framed by a yellow star.

Around 2,000 people are expected to participate. The protesters recognize, so they say, distinct similarities between anti-semitism and Islamophobia.  Systematic killing, scientific research, starvation and brutality are not included in their list. They focus more on being treated as second class citizens and discrimination due to head scarves or their name. For many of us the comparison is absurd.