Dear Mr. Pripstein,

Thank you for your time, sir. My name is Ricky Roehr and I am the president of the North American Raelian Movement. (www.rael.org)

You recently became aware of an action we have been carrying out across the USA and the entire world. In New York City, we flew planes over the city with a banner behind which contained the swastika, a peace sign, a heart, and our website- a site which shows the original, true meaning for this ancient symbol, the swastika, which the abominable Adolf Hitler hijacked and used for something so horrible.

According to the articles we saw in which you were quoted, you asked "We're trying to find out-- what are their intentions?"

Thus I write you today.

First of all, Mr. Pripstein, our 70,000+ members world wide are extremely sympathetic to the horrors suffered by the Jewish people at the hands of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. We work incessantly so that nothing of the sort will ever be able to take place again - for Jews or any peoples.

Our objective in this annual "Swastika Rehabilitation Day" is to do just that - rehabilitate the image of this very ancient symbol which has, in recent decades, been equated only with Hitler's horrors, when in fact, the swastika has always meant something very beautiful, peaceful and loving for billions of people all over the world and still is by billions of people.

Of course you know of other fools who would like to perpetrate more hatred, the organization called the Ku Klux Klan, who use the Crucifix as a symbol of hatred, fear and intolerance. Yet Christians have not let them permanently hijack their symbol.

Furthermore, throughout history, violence was also carried out under the Crucifix - the inquisitions, colonization, genocide, slavery, etc. In fact, Christians hijacked the Torah!! They reinterpreted it for the Church's own ends - and they used your beloved Torah to help justify those violent acts throughout history. But the Jewish people never let them change the Torah in the eyes of the Jews and this is of course beautiful.

We are, in our Swastika Rehabilitation endeavors, actually trying to negate - not forget the hate and fear carried out by Hitler and his followers. If the Jewish people would not hide in terror in the presence of this symbol but instead embrace it's true meaning, the world would stand in awe of this act of love.

The world must never forget what was done to the Jews, Mr. Pripstein. What we do in these actions is aimed precisely at diminishing not the acts of intolerant fools, but eradicating the hatred - by taking back what was not theirs to use for horrible ends. For by reclaiming the original meaning of the Swastika, the world takes it back from Adolf Hitler and sets the tone for a deeper healing.

You may or may not know, Mr. Pripstein, that the Swastika is actually in ancient Synagogues in Israel. I have provided some links below in case you have not seen these.

Your beloved ancestors knew and used this symbol. We sincerely hope that the Jewish people will scoff at the memory of Hitler and the Nazi movement. Because in the current world, Hitler's legacy is amplified, even glorified in a perverse way! What better way to heal this saddest of mankind's memories than to encourage the world to never forget - not by hiding in shame in the presence of the swastika, but instead reclaiming it in its original, peaceful, fraternal meaning. What an example the Jewish people of the world would set in front of the entire world!

http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.2
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.3
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.4
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.5
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.6
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.7
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.8
http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?4.9

With my deepest respect and love for ELOHIM,

Ricky Roehr
North American Raelian Movement
www.rael.org