WA Rep. Jim Walsh criticized for wearing Star of David, likening treatment of non-vaccinated people to Holocaust
ABERDEEN, Wash. — Lawmakers across the state are calling on a Western Washington Republican to apologize for using a symbol of the Holocaust to make a point about the COVID shutdowns and vaccine policies.
Video from Representative Jim Walsh’s Facebook page shows him speaking at a rally called ‘Washingtonians for Change’ wearing the yellow Star of David—a symbol of Judaism, but notably used to identify Jewish people in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
People forced to wear the star were subject to extreme persecution, and millions were rounded up and sent to concentration camps during World War II, many dying in the horrific conditions.
Walsh likened the treatment of non-vaccinated people to Jewish people living in Nazi Germany, saying “In the current context, we’re all Jews.”
Several lawmakers and Jewish Americans lambasted Walsh online, some even saying he should resign for the comparison.
Spokane Senator and Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig issued a statement Wednesday calling for Walsh to apologize:
“Rep. Walsh’s comments and actions were deeply offensive and demonstrated either extreme ignorance or a willful effort to lie about historical facts for perceived political benefit.
“Before Rep. Walsh makes another clumsy attempt to equate life-saving vaccines with the murder of six million men, women and children, I’d invite him to visit the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle. There he can look at the faces and into the eyes of those rounded up and murdered by Nazis, consider for a moment what they went through on their way to the gas chamber and compare it to his experience being asked to wear a mask or get a vaccine.
“I encourage Rep. Walsh to speak with Holocaust survivors. I would be glad to help set up a meeting so he can hear from a first-hand witness to the Holocaust how dangerous and offensive it is to compare life-saving vaccines to government-sanctioned murder.
“Rep. Walsh also compared the plight of unvaccinated people to Plessy v Ferguson. Equating Jim Crow laws, which were perpetrated on people based solely on the color of their skin, to a choice he gets to make about whether or not to receive a life-saving vaccine is racially insensitive and the height of ignorance.
“Rep. Walsh’s comments and actions would be unacceptable coming from anyone but are especially disturbing coming from a member of the Washington State House of Representatives. I call on Rep. Walsh to immediately apologize and commit to educating himself about the history of the Holocaust and Jim Crow laws.”
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