Settlers slammed for orange stars to protest pullout

Settlers protesting the disengagement plan were condemned on Tuesday for their new tactic - orange Star of David badges, reminiscent of the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear during World War II.

Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman issued a statement saying "the residents of Gush Katif are sending an appalling and misguided message to the people of Israel and the world by this public relations ploy, aimed at fostering attention to their opposition to the disengagement plan.

"While the setters have every right to peacefully and democratically protest this plan, likening the Holocaust to this political process, no matter how painful, has the effect of fueling Holocaust denial by de-legitimizing the unprecedented horror of the Shoah," the group said.

Labor MK Yuli Tamir submitted a bill that would make it illegal to use Holocaust symbols and images for purposes that are not educational or to perpetuate the memory of victims.

Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, said the tactics tarnish both the settlers and the memory of Holocaust victims. "Making someone move out of his home is sad, but its still not a concentration camp, nor the gas chambers nor the ovens at Auschwitz," Lapid said.

The Chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority called on Gush Katif-settlement bloc residents not to wear the star. Wearing it, he said, distorts historical facts and is disrespects the Holocaust.

	Gush Katif residents preparing and wearing orange-colored Jewish stars to protest the disengagement plan. (Limor Edrey)