A few weeks ago in downtown Toronto, I watched a group of Zionist Jews come across a car decorated for Diwali. The car was covered in flower and candle decorations, as well as some Hindu symbology. Aghast at noticing a swastika amidst the decorations, this group became irate and began yelling about blatant antisemitism. I wondered if they knew the relationship between this symbol and the Hindu religion, but I doubted they would care if they did. Despite its origins (and different orientation) in Buddhist and Hindu culture, for many today the swastika is synonymous with Nazism. For myself, knowing the history of this symbol does not mitigate the visceral response I feel to seeing a swastika.
On October 29, a man in Oakland, California was kicked out of the Jerusalem Coffee House by the owner for wearing a blue baseball cap with a white star of David on it. Police are now investigating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime. Was it antisemitic to ask this man to leave? Maybe. Yet no one is asking a bigger question about this incident- why did this man feel it appropriate to walk into a Palestinian coffee shop wearing a hat so closely mirroring the flag of Israel? Did he not expect to elicit a visceral response from the very people being slaughtered in the name of this flag? Do Palestinians who have watched the death and destruction of their homeland carried out under this symbol not have the right to be offended by it?
In Canada, the Zionist lobby has spent the past year decrying any appearance of the Star of David within the pro-Palestine movement. From social media posts to protest signs, they have claimed that depicting this star in anything critical of Israel is antisemitic and equates the entire Jewish people with the State of Israel. Yet, this lobby and the state of Israel have themselves worked tirelessly to conflate Judaism and Israel. Beyond putting the star in the middle of the Israeli flag, the Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs has also put the star in its logo. B’nai Brith Canada uses the Jewish symbol of the menorah in its logo. When Zionists themselves begin appropriating Jewish symbolism, the distinction between Judaism and Israel becomes blurred.
Perhaps more than anyone, it is Israel itself that is appropriating Jewish symbols for fascist purposes. As a genocide continues in Gaza, the Israeli army celebrates this devastation by carving or spray painting the Star of David into demolished buildings and neighborhoods. When spray paint falls short, soldiers and police brand and carve this symbol on Palestinians themselves. The co-optation of this symbol for terror is most evident in the West Bank. Palestinian cities and neighborhoods are often vandalized by settler youth who spray paint the star and accompanying fascist slogans over Palestinian murals and on flags. When settlers are finally able to displace these Palestinians from their villages, a star or menorah is frequently placed on top of this ethnically cleansed land.
On October 9, 2023, I proudly wore my Star of David necklace at the emergency rally for Gaza. I wanted people to know unmistakably that I was Jewish and still pro-Palestine. At the rally on October 5, 2024 marking one year of genocide in Gaza, my necklace instead featured the ‘chai’ symbol. I am no longer seeking to redeem and reclaim the Star of David.
Like the swastika, there is nothing wrong with the star in and of itself; this symbol existed before Israel and will exist after Israel’s demise. Yet, this symbol which was once an integral part of how I show my identity, is now synonymous with the cruelty and evil of the Zionist regime. When Palestinians look at this symbol, which has been used to represent Jewish supremacy and Palestinian destruction, they do not feel a distinction between this symbol when it is blue and in between two stripes or if it is gold and around my neck. Both represent the destruction of the Palestinian people.
Star of David built by settlers on Palestinian land in the West Bank (Photo: Guy Hircefeld) 
Israeli occupation forces stand in front of the Ghawi family home in Sheikh Jarrah that was taken over by Israeli settlers in 2009 and placed a neon Star of David on top of it. Photo taken in May 2021. (Photo: Mohammed El-Kurd) 
Star of David graffiti carved into a dresser by Israeli forces in Shuja’iyeh in Gaza in 2014. (Photo: Dan Cohen) 
Badee Dwaik, in occupied Hebron. Note the Stars of David painted on shuttered Palestinian storefronts, in buildings claimed by Jews. 
Satellite imagery of a Star of David carved into Palestinian farmland in Gaza by Israeli troops during Operation Cast Lead (Photo: UN) 
Star of David on garbage bin in Gaza, 2009
While discussing the incident in Oakland on social media, Mohammed El Kurd makes the same argument that the Star of David is now a hate symbol, whether Jews like it or not. Peter Beinart responded by saying the symbol is a Jewish symbol that exists outside of Israel’s appropriation of it and thus criticizing the Star of David is in fact a condemnation of Judaism. I agree it is not the fault of Jews that Israel has decided to use our symbol as the logo for their fascist regime. However, we are not absolved of the current weight of these symbols and we should not fault Palestinians for their visceral emotions when they see these symbols.
During my most recent trip to the West Bank, some local children were scouring my belongings for potential gifts. Finding the Magen David necklace I wore through customs, a girl turned to me and said: “oh so you love Israel?” No! I vehemently responded. They giggled and asked why I have their symbol on my necklace? At first I tried to explain that this is a symbol of Jewish people, not the State of Israel. But I quickly trailed off. For Palestinians who know nothing of Judaism aside from its role in oppression and ethnic cleansing, this star symbolizes harm, destruction, and hate. I had specifically removed it when entering Palestine because I knew it was triggering to see.
In North America, the Jewish community is given special consideration during Diwali because of the use of the swastika and its associations with Nazi Germany and white supremacist movements. Palestinians must be afforded the same consideration when Jewish people choose to display the Star of David which has now become associated with the Gaza genocide and Israeli apartheid. Israel has made it impossible to divorce this symbol from the unfathomable devastation carried out under its banner. Israel has turned the Star of David into a symbol of supremacy and fascism. I refuse to associate myself and my Judaism with Israel and all it represents. That is why I am no longer wearing a Jewish star.
“Yet, this lobby and the state of Israel have themselves worked tirelessly to conflate Judaism and Israel.” the author writes.
Once the numbness wears off we will be embarking on a 30-year discussion of the relation between Judaism and the Palestinian Shoah. There will be history books, novels, documentaries and movies. The true extent of the genocide will gradually reveal itself while AIPAC screams “antisemitism!”.
I have been following the press coverage of the violence in Amsterdam around the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv football match on Thursday. In the NYT, Bret Stephens saw it as the start of of a new wave of pogroms, although its other stories were less unhinged. I will give Bret the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows sweet FA about the “beautiful game” which has been besmirched by hooliganism and racism for decades (thankfully, pretty much gone now here in England). If he did, he would know that Maccabi supporters are notorious for violence and virulent racism. Reputable sources, such as the Times of Israel, have reported that Maccabi fans started the trouble and, it would appear, got a good kicking from the Dutch. Also not mentioned, as journalists walk on eggshells around anything involving Israel, is the obvious fact that – for reasons well known to us here – Israelis are not very popular in decent, law-abiding societies right now. (There was a brief report on the Guardian that Netanyahu has forbidden military personnel from travelling to the Netherlands and I suspect that he’s worried that they could be arrested on suspicion of war crimes, which would create some nasty diplomatic problems.)
For the first time in his many years of serving as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has not been invited to address the annual conference of the Jewish Federations of North America, which will be held this week in Washington D.C.
It is a sign of how divisive a figure Netanyahu has become, even among Jewish legacy organizations like the JFNA, ….
When I was in college, I researched the Star of David. I did not find much historical connection to Judaism. In Germany the Star of David was a witch’s symbol and called the Drudenschild, which is easily transformed into Dudenschild or Shield of David. In N. Africa the Star of David was a symbol of Islamic mysticism that N. African Jews seem to have borrowed form N. African Muslims. In the 18th century, European Jewish writers would often explain the Star of David in case a reader was unfamiliar with the symbol.
“In Canada, the Zionist lobby has spent the past year decrying any appearance of the Star of David within the pro-Palestine movement. From social media posts to protest signs, they have claimed that depicting this star in anything critical of Israel is antisemitic and equates the entire Jewish people with the State of Israel. Yet, this lobby and the state of Israel have themselves worked tirelessly to conflate Judaism and Israel.”
YES. For decades they tried to persuade everyone that Judaism equals Israel. They succeeded. Now when people blame Jews for Israel’s crimes, they cry antisemitism. Can’t have it both ways.
BTW: Bravo, or rather brava, Anna Lippman, one of the leaders of Independent Jewish Voices.