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Finding Our Jewish Pride: The Star of David Effect
Edith Bruck, in white, attends the unveiling event for the mural “The Star of David” by contemporary artist aleXsandro Palombo at the Fondazione Museo della Shoah in Rome, Italy on April 7, 2025. Photo: Ariel Nacamulli
In the aftermath of October 7, Jewish people around the world have experienced a deep recalibration — fear and shock has been replaced by anger, resilience, and pride. This has led to a reassessment of identity and a recognition of purpose. This awakening has taken on many forms, in the realm of advocacy campaigns, coordinated social media efforts, rallies and protests, letter-writing initiatives, WhatsApp group activism, and countless grassroots political movements.
Jewish visibility is increasing in other ways, too. One particularly striking yet underappreciated phenomenon is what I’d call the “Star of David Effect.” This refers to the growing number of Jewish individuals — particularly younger Jews — who are visibly and deliberately wearing Magen David’s or Chai necklaces in public. What in the past may have been a rare quiet personal expression of faith has now become a visible symbol of resistance and pride.
It has become a rather frequent occurrence within certain sectors of the Jewish community, where young people are outwardly displaying these necklaces and it speaks to a desire to fight back in their own way. This a proactive way to take a level of control back from the onslaught of incoming negativity that people have been exposed to. It’s these people’s way of saying, “yes I’m here, yes I’m Jewish, and what?”
This may seem like a small gesture, but in reality, it’s a powerful statement. It is a reassuring demonstration by the younger generations of their pride in who they are. It reflects a generation beginning to see their Jewish identity not as incidental, but as essential. In an era where Jewish people have been forced to confront an ancient hatred in a modern context, the Star of David has transformed into both armor and resistance.
In recent discussions with Rabbi Jonathan Blake, the senior rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in New York, he described how pre-Oct. 7, he had concerns about teaching the lessons of the Holocaust to younger generations. He expressed that the passage of time and the fading presence of survivors, coupled with the Shoah being too distant to be relatable to current generations, presented a challenge.
Rabbi Blake noted that October 7 has created a kind of unfortunate, but undeniable, educational opening. “For the first time in their lives,” he told me, “these students understand what it feels like to be targeted simply for being Jewish. It’s terrifying — but also awakening something in them.”
The “Star of David Effect” is becoming a fashion statement that is a symbol of power. As the piece of jewelry sits around someone’s neck, there is a certain strength it embodies and a type of coolness that it conjures up. Whether it’s the young man wearing a Magen David in the university cafeteria or the woman with a Chai pendant on the subway, they are all part of something larger. They are, in their own way, demonstrating bravery and making a statement, and it is worth recognizing.
Every generation questions whether the next generation has what it takes to carry the torch of survival. Certainly, the young Jewish people of Israel have proven they have what it takes, and it is not wrong to assess that this generation of American Jewry are showing their resolve by donning there Magen Davids and their Chais. In doing so, they echo the power of generations before them — it would not be out of place to give these young people a pat on the back and let them know that their demonstration of pride is cool and deserves our respect.
Daniel Rosen has been a recognized opinion leader since his early college days, when he co-founded Torchpac, a pro-Israel advocacy group at New York University. Daniel is currently the chairman and co-founder of the pro-Israel group, Minds and Hearts.
The post Finding Our Jewish Pride: The Star of David Effect first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.