Proud, Unbowed, and Unapologetically Zionist

When my daughter looked at me with eyes full of worry and asked me to remove my Star of David necklace, my heart broke—not because of her request, but because of the world that forced her to make it.

I refused. I simply refused.

We live in a world where no one would think to ask a Christian to strip the cross from their neck. No one would demand that a Muslim woman tear off her hijab to appease a crowd. Why, then, should I remove a piece of jewelry that has become an inseparable part of my identity? My necklace represents my profound love and admiration for Israel. It symbolizes my unwavering conviction that Israel must remain a safe haven for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland.

Tragically, the reality of our modern world proves just how necessary that safe haven truly is.

I live in the Netherlands. Since the horrific events of October 7, 2023, my life has been turned upside down simply because I refuse to hide who I am. I have lost two real jobs because I was branded a “dirty zionistic baby killer” after employers scrutinized my LinkedIn page and social media activity. I have lost countless professional opportunities. I was politely asked to take down my personal company page on LinkedIn, which boasted 85,000 followers, and I received the exact same demands accompanied by explicit threats.

The hostility did not stop online. I have received threats on paper and encountered physical intimidation. The tires of my car have been slashed. Eggs have been hurled at my windows. I even found a dead pigeon left at my doorstep.

These are just the incidents that targeted me personally. Sadly, my story is not an isolated one; it is a reflection of a massive, systemic crisis gripping Dutch society.

Data from Dutch monitoring organizations and authorities reveals a terrifying surge in antisemitic incidents since October 2023. While anti-Israel activism is not always inherently antisemitic, the line has completely blurred in public spaces. The Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) recorded a staggering 421 incidents in 2024 alone, marking the highest number since tracking began.

This crisis did not appear out of thin air. For two decades, we have watched antisemitism simmer under the surface. It manifested in toxic football culture, where stadium chants routinely referenced gas chambers and Hitler. It appeared in the periodic vandalism of synagogues, Jewish schools, and Holocaust memorials, as well as the explosion of online conspiracy theories. We saw dangerous spikes during the Gaza conflict in 2014, but nothing compares to the explosion of hatred we see today.

Today, visibly Jewish students are harassed on university campuses. In November 2024, the world watched in horror as Israeli football supporters were hunted and assaulted in the streets of Amsterdam—an attack openly condemned as antisemitic by Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Mayor Femke Halsema. By early 2026, the violence escalated to an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam, an act the mayor correctly identified as a deliberate assault on the Jewish community.

When the Dutch National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism warns that this hatred is becoming an open, normalized part of daily society, we must listen.

The intimidation tactics are designed to make us disappear. They want us to scrub our social media profiles, delete our businesses, and tuck our necklaces inside our shirts so the world can pretend we do not exist. They want us to feel isolated, helpless, and ashamed of our solidarity with the lone Jewish state.

But they have targeted the wrong person.

I am not someone who scares easily. I do not give up, and I am not intimidated. I will openly admit that I get angry when I see Israel miss strategic opportunities, or when I witness the staggering double standards and injustices leveled against her by the international community.

Call me stubborn, call me crazy, but I believe unconditionally in Israel’s absolute right to exist and her fundamental duty to defend her citizens.

I have stood proud for Israel from my very first breath, and I will continue to stand proud until my last. I will not bow to intimidation. I will not compromise my convictions to make bigots feel comfortable. And no, I will never hide my necklace.