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By Anna Lippman November 9, 2024


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.

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.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/11/i-stopped-wearing-the-star-of-david-because-it-has-become-a-symbol-of-supremacy-and-fascism/

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