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Letter: ICE protests offend the memory of Nazis’ victims

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah State Representative Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, Co-President of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, speaks to those gathered outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office at 2975 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, for a Close The Camps vigil.

Protesting the ICE immigration detention camps, and comparing them to the Nazi death camps, where 6 million Jews, and 5 million gentiles, were murdered, and doing so by representing to the public you are the voice of the Utah Jewish community, let alone on Shabbos, is beyond offensive and shameful. In fact, its downright deceitful.

This anti-Semitic demonstration does not represent the voice of the Utah Jewish community. Moreover, this distasteful conduct denigrates the memory of all those who perished at the hands of the Nazis, both Jew and gentile alike.

Jews who liken the the ICE detention camps to the Nazi death camps cheapen the entire Never Again movement and offend the memory of those who perished in those death camps, including my family.

As a Utah Jew, I support President Trump and support his efforts at immigration reform. While I disagree with some points of our president's immigration policy, I would never, ever, think of politicizing the memory of my slain family members to demonstrate my disapproval of our president.

In the future, please refrain from making such incredibly divisive political protests for your political agenda and doing so in the name of our Jewish community. Rather, please be politically, socially and religiously honest and label your affiliations and sponsorship appropriately, i.e., Jews Against ICE and/or Jews Against Trump, because isn't that what this is really all about anyway?

As Jews we should hold ourselves to a higher standard when entering the public arena. While I salute your constitutional right to protest those issues you deem important, I respectfully ask that you please do so in an appropriate way and in an appropriate forum and with appropriate historical and social sensitivity.

Elliott Stone, Lehi

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