The yellow Star of David attached to the toddlers' clothes.
Toddlers come home from daycare with a yellow Star of David
Parents outraged to see their children wearing a patch the Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust; 'In a child's world, when someone puts a sticker on them, they view it as a reward for positive behavior,' mother writes.
Parents of children attending a Rishon LeZion daycare were shocked to see their kids return home on Wednesday with a yellow Star of David attached to their clothes.
K.'s 3.5-year-old daughter goes to a city daycare along with 16 other children aged 3.5-4 years old.
"I didn't pick up my daughter from daycare yesterday because I was ill," K. yold Ynet. "My husband picked her up, but even before that I got a phone call from the mother of another girl at daycare who told me she was outraged when she opened the door to the daycare to see all of the children wearing a yellow Star of David. When my husband brought our daughter home, she also wore one."
The yellow Star of David attached to the toddlers' clothes.
K. decided to express her own outrage on the Rishon LeZion municipality's Facebook page, where she posted a photo of her daughter wearing the yellow Star of David with the word 'Jude' (Jew) on it.
"Outraged, in total shock," she wrote. "I'm having a hard time putting how I feel into words, I refuse to understand and I am anxious about the direction our children's education is taking."
K. said the daycare's manager was behind the yellow Star of Davids. "A woman who takes education into her own hands. I don't know how to explain to a girl this young what the Holocaust was, so who is she to explain to her what the Holocaust was? You can explain to them that there's a siren and you have to stand and show respect, but a yellow Star of David? The only thing missing is for her to put a number on their arm."
"The other parents were all outraged as well, and sent pictures of their children with the yellow Star of David on the daycare's group," K. added.
K. went on to write in her Facebook post: "We all know and respect the importance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, but the message was conveyed to the toddlers today in an awful and unacceptable manner. Do the children need to learn about the topic while wearing a yellow Star of David, as if they were in the Holocaust? In a child's world, when someone puts a sticker or a symbol on them, they view it as a reward or as someone indicating on positive behavior, unlike the meaning of this symbol, which has a loaded meaning. Too loaded for toddlers, when the message could've been conveyed in a moderate and appropriate way to the ages in question."
The Rishon LeZion municipality said in response: "All educational teams working with young children received instructions ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day. This incident is a serious deviation and we view it very gravely. The daycare manager was immediately suspended and will be summoned to a hearing."
