The Israeli Embassy in Singapore has condemned recent social media postings comparing the Singapore government’s Covid-19 response to the Holocaust, saying such analogies belittle the genocide’s atrocities.
The embassy wrote on Facebook on August 12 that comments comparing the “clear health advantages of vaccines that have benefitted billions worldwide are not only in poor taste, but also distort the Holocaust by downplaying its atrocities.
Related Posts
According to the embassy, the Holocaust was a genocide committed by the Nazi government against six million innocent Jews.
It urged the people to exercise caution before re-sharing such content, adding that there is no comparison to the horrors of the Holocaust.
The embassy’s remarks came after former Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member Brad Bowyer attracted backlash for criticizing new Covid-19 vaccination restrictions for individuals who are and are not vaccinated.
Non-vaccinated people can no longer go out to eat out except at coffee shops and hawker centres, or perform certain unmasked activities indoors starting Tuesday.
Bowyer expressed his opposition to the policy on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, with a picture depicting the Holocaust.
Bowyer submitted his resignation from PSP on Wednesday, after several internet users criticized him for being insensitive.
Bowyer, who was born in the United Kingdom and subsequently acquired Singapore citizenship, justified the use of the Holocaust picture in the tweet announcing his resignation from the party.
He said that the new restrictions have rendered him and his family, as well as “many hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans who have reservations about vaccines,” “second-class citizens in their own country.”
Bowyer said that they are worried for their livelihoods as a result, and that some internet users have asked for his family to starve and be removed from the country, among other things.
Bowyer said that the usual procedure is to throw a hissy fit if the Holocaust is mentioned and added that he does not disrespect it; rather, he appreciate it and see the patterns, even if the final result is different. “I understand what (the embassy) is saying, but I disagree that it is a taboo topic that should never be spoken since quiet has been the norm in the past,” he said.
