"Swastika Rehabilitation Day" Went About As Well As You'd Expect

[cbayer]

http://gothamist.com/2012/06/24/swastika_rehabilitation_day_went_ab.php



via Corey Kilgannon's Twitter

Yesterday was World Swastika Rehabilitation Day, an occasion to try "to explain the true meaning of the symbol,” according to Thomas Kaenzig, a member of the International Raelian Movement and the organizer of the event. Oh, did you not know this was happening? Then you must not have looked up, since a plane flew across Manhattan, across the Jersey Shore and across Long Beach Island with a banner displaying the word "Swastika" along with the group's insignia (a swastika intertwined with a Star of David). As you can imagine, people were confused and less than enthusiastic.

[struggle4progress]

1. I did some research, thought about it a bit, and then decided I just really don't even want to know

[dimbear]

2. There are some beautiful books, mostly from the 1920s-1930s that are a bit jarring.

Indian good luck symbol meets bad fate.

[cbayer]

4. I don't blame you.

They are planning to fly this over other major cities, including LA.

[struggle4progress]

7. IMO it's a cheap publicity stunt, rather like the Phelps gang visiting funerals

[HubertHeaver]

3. about 30 to 40 years too soon

[PoliticAverse]

9. Apparently, for example see...

"Navy to alter barracks shaped like swastika"

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_navyswastika_070926

[madrchsod]

5. there is many versions of this symbol across the world.

[cbayer]

10. Are they generally superimposed

Over the star of David?

[Scootaloo]

6. I don't see how that could have possibly gone amiss!

An obscure Alien-revering religion, flying a banner with the Swastika superimposed over the Star of David?

Seems like a case of "didn't think this through" to me.

[daaron]

8. It's just a symbol. Who cares if it gets rehabilitated? Trash it. nt

[cbayer]

11. They flew it over some predominantly Jewish neighborhoods

[MarianJack]

13. As the son of a WWII veteran,...

...the stepson of a Jewish woman (and half brother of 2 Jewsih siblings) and the nephew of a Treblinka survivor, I find the designation of the swastika as "just a symbol" as a rather tin-eared comment. The vast majority of people would find this to be much more of a symbol. The notion of "rehabilitating" it is a completely demented notion.

PLEASE put a little more thought in before typing.

PEACE!

[daaron]

14. My post was too short and unclear. I believe you misunderstood.

I'm saying the swastika and what it has come to represent make it BEYOND rehabilitation. "Who cares?" was a poor choice of words. Bah.

Trying to rehab the swastika isn't just insulting. It betrays the people behind it as Nazi-sympathizers. Ugly bigots and would-be fascists who should be marginalized with a passion apropos to the crime, which is a monstrous crime requiring a lonnnnggg memory to keep THAT bullshit in check. Neo-nazis are forever banned from civilization. Period.

I'm saying "trash it" -- trash the swastika as a symbol it has been degraded as a beyond saving. I'm also saying that since it is a symbol - by definition, it is a symbol, and meant other things to other cultures before the Nazis... we can't change that - it is JUST a symbol. It isn't a person, plant or animal. It has no intrinsic value, so who's gonna cry for the poor old swastika if it has come to mean something repugnant? Not me, for one. I doubt the Hopi or Tibetans feel like the Nazi's version was anything but a ripoff. If only they could sue for trademark infringement.

In other words, I agree. There is no rehab for the symbol, and we should never forget what it means. As a society, we SHOULD, in my opinion, let all those dirty dogs lie where they be, BUT idiots like these 'rehab-the-swastika' people keep trying to reinvent history and catch a meme wave to Fox News at 10.

Paz.

[MarianJack]

16. Yes, I did misunderstand.

Please accept my apology, daaron! You make a very good point. Thank you for the clarification.

PEACE!

[daaron]

17. No prob! Thx for making me be clear on this important topic. nt

[rrneck]

12. You can say anything to anyone under the right conditions

In this case, the operational envelope for communication was extremely narrow.

[Starboard Tack]

15. Truly a shame that such a great symbol was coopted by thugs.

Makes one wonder if the cross will ever be rehabilitated.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. On top of the Star of David? Flown over Jewish neighborhoods?

Sorry, I am not getting "rehabilitation" here, I am getting "we're coming for you again!" Looks like a bit of "truth2power."