XPost: alt.global-warming, edm.general, soc.culture.usa   
   XPost: or.politics   
   From: sharx35@telus.net   
      
   On 2024-11-11 9:23 p.m., NefeshBarYochai wrote:   
   > 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-d   
   vid-because-it-has-become-a-symbol-of-supremacy-and-fascism/   
   >   
   >   
      
      
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