Dissident Veteran For Peace

In January 2007, I first wrote about the swastika and my point of departure that time was a BBC article about efforts to ban the symbol in Europe. Below is an excerpt from a recent BBC article, "Me and my swastika".

For Hindu DJ Nerm, the swastika is a symbol of goodwill. Can he reclaim it from its indelible Nazi connotations - and how do people react to his swastika tattoo?

The swastika is perhaps the most vilified symbol in the world. It conjures up images of Nazi death camps and neo-fascists, and strikes fear into the hearts of those who "don't belong" - Blacks, Asians and anyone foreign.

And me? I have a swastika symbol tattooed on the inside of my lip. And I'm Asian. How could I do that? I'm of Indian origin and in my culture the swastika is a symbol of peace and goodwill. I only found out about Hitler's appropriation of it when I studied history at school. I was astounded.

While DJing on tour in Los Angeles in 2000, I decided I would reclaim the swastika for my culture with a tattoo on the inside of my lip. The tattooist was taken aback that I would want a "Nazi logo" on my body until I explained its true meaning.

But the tattoo has faded over time. To get it redone, I visit Naresh, a tattoo artist in Kentish Town. He is mixed race with an Indian parent, and knows the symbol well, having tattooed several Indian swastikas in his time.

When people see my retouched tattoo - even good friends - they reel. I find myself repeatedly explaining what the swastika means to me and my cultural heritage, and that the symbol had been one of peace and positivity for thousands of years before Hitler stole it.

Labels: critical thinking, identity, religion, swastika

Right: Hindus in India celebrate Diwali by lighting lamps in the shape of a swastika (Source: Reuters/Spiegel Online).

The BBC is reporting that "Hindus in Europe have joined forces against a German proposal to ban the display of the swastika across the European Union." It goes without saying that all true advocates of freedom of speech and expression are also staunchly opposed to any swastika ban. So, I will dispense with any discussion of that topic and focus instead on its use in the Palestinian solidarity movement.

The use of the symbol by the Palestinian solidarity movement (PSM) is problematic, to say the least. In my American experience, members of the general public are often not knowledgeable or thoughtful enough to understand the point that PSM activists are trying to make when employing the symbol. Americans have been conditioned to react viscerally to the swastika as a symbol of hate and they often can't get past this reaction to seeing the very real parallels between Nazi and Zionist behavior and ideology--parallels attested to by more than one survivor of the Nazi genocides. In such circumstances, the use of the symbol is generally, I think, not helpful. I'm not arguing against the validity of the PSM using the symbol but against the expediency of its use when decoupled from a broader context and discourse--the kind that does not fit onto a sign or in a slogan.

That said, there is another good reason why PSM activists should probably forgo use of the swastika. As the BBC and Reclaim the Swastika point out, the swastika is an ancient religious icon and peace symbol found in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. As Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Forum of Britain says, "The swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace. This is exactly the opposite of how it was used by Hitler."

The swastika was even rather ubiquitous in the West before the Nazis misappropriated it. Unfortunately, the use of the swastika by PSM activists not only invokes the Nazi-swastika association but, moreover, it reinforces it to detriment of those traditions who have positive associations with the symbol and are trying to reclaim it.

So, let's consider leaving the swastika to our Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Navajo, Hopi, Druid, Finnish, etc. sibs as a religious symbol and consider leaving it out of the Palestinian solidarity movement as a public protest symbol. Of course, people of good will can disagree on tactics and strategy and we ought not quarrel with one another unless a matter of principle is at stake. On the matter of expediency, I would say that no principle is at stake but I would think that respecting the sensibilities of people for whom the swastika has spiritual significance is a matter of principle.

Labels: history, religion, swastika