Illustrative: A scene from the anti-Israel protest that took place outside the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” in New York City on June 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot

An anti-Israel organization is planning to hold a protest in front of a Holocaust museum in Michigan to “end genocide” and “stop US-Israel war crimes,” referring to the Jewish state’s military campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The group, Coalition Against Genocide, released a graphic calling on its supporters to assemble in front of the Zekelman Holocaust Museum on July 14 to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s supposed “genocide” of Palestinians. The graphic draws parallels between the ongoing war in Gaza and the Holocaust — a comparison that many Jewish leaders have decried as false and antisemitic.

“Never again for anyone,” the graphic says. 

“Stop US-Israel war crimes,” the graphic adds. 

News of the planned protest circulated like wildfire on social media, with critics calling the event “pure antisemitism” and “political propaganda.” The Michigan chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shared on X/Twitter that it is “working with the Zekelman Holocaust Museum and local authorities to address safety and community concerns.”

Scapegoating US Jews and the @HolocaustMI by holding them responsible for another nation’s actions is antisemitism — full stop. We are working with the Zekelman Holocaust Museum and local authorities to address safety and community concerns. pic.twitter.com/vn7mVO0zfW

— ADL Michigan (@ADLMichigan) July 8, 2024

Political protests in front of Holocaust museums and exhibits are generally considered to be deeply disrespectful to the victims of the Holocaust and their families. Many believe such demonstrations minimize the horrors of the Holocaust by drawing a false comparison between Israel’s defensive military actions and Nazi Germany’s attempted extermination of Jews. Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel which killed over 1,200 people, pro-Hamas activists have held several protests at Holocaust museums and even former concentration camps. In December, a group called “Doctors Against Genocide” planned a protest in front of the US National Holocaust Memorial Museum. Facing backlash, the anti-Zionist doctors scrapped the planned demonstration, saying that “parties with ill intentions” misrepresented the event and that they intended to “bring awareness to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

In March, anti-Israel demonstrators in Amsterdam protested at the opening of a Holocaust museum, citing the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog as the reason. The protesters chanted “ceasefire now” and “stop bombing children” outside of the building. One demonstrator said that Herzog’s attendance represented a “slap in the face of victims both in Gaza and the Jews that starved in World War Two.”

In May, anti-Israel activists organized a protest in front of Auschwitz — the infamous Nazi concentration camp where 1 million Jews were murdered during World War II — during an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day event. People from around the world descend upon Poland every year to commemorate the memory of those who perished in the concentration camps.