Hundreds of Idahoans gathered on a bright, cold Saturday to reiterate to the state’s leaders that Idaho is a place for everyone, including Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Speakers included state Rep. Hy Kloc, "who was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany and came to the U.S. with his family after World War II. Apart from his parents and brother, Kloc lost his entire family in the Holocaust, and after three years in the camp, finally made it to America."
"And just like the refugees of today," Kloc said, "that was the only thing we could do, there was no going back." Kloc recalled the shameful history of the passenger liner Saint Louis, which in 1939 reached American waters with nearly a thousand European Jews aboard, but was turned back, because "America First." After the ship returned to Europe, half the Jewish passengers were killed when Hitler overran the continent.
"There is a reality of fear today in our country that is similar to the fear in 1939," said Kloc. "We are not that country; we are not those people. We do not want to repeat that history."
Of course, there was a contingent who are those people, and they did the best to drown out the message from Kloc and the refugees who spoke. They were a loud but distinct minority. That’s them, across the street in this picture.
Here’s more from the day.
It wasn’t all positive. David Neiwert from Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch captured much of the antics of the anti-refugee crowd in this video.