LAS VEGAS, June 22 – According to a statement released today, Raelians will hold worldwide events on “Swastika Rehabilitation Day,” June 24, to inform people about the ancient, peaceful meaning of the swastika.

“In the past 12 months, there have been at least three cases in the United States alone in which people in significant roles have associated the swastika with hate and misled the public,” said Raelian Guide Upendra Singh, who heads the ProSwastika Alliance.

[The aforementioned three cases can be found at the following links: Politician Peter Jacob, Conal International Trading Inc. and Sarah Silverman.]

Singh pointed out that for many Westerners, the swastika is still a sacred symbol, despite its unfortunate association with Hitler and the Nazis.

“It’s a symbol cherished not only by Raelians, for whom it represents infinity in time, but by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains,” he said. “Banning this religious symbol is like banning a religion. It affronts both the members of that religion and a supposedly free society in general.”

Singh said that while Raelians deplore the Nazi crimes against humanity, they also say that Hitler unfairly besmirched a revered symbol that has existed for thousands of years.

“Before the Nazis, the swastika had only positive connotations of good luck and well-being,” he explained. “Continuing to associate it with the Nazis gives them credit for it, which is probably the last thing their victims would have wanted. Would you also ban the Christian cross? Remember, tens of millions were murdered under that symbol in the Americas, Africa and Europe, and the Klu Klux Klan also used it!”

Singh said the swastika was a Jewish symbol as well, and for a very long time.

“It’s on old synagogues, including in Verona, Italy, and at many Israeli sites, including the Second Temple, one of the holiest places for Jews. Nobody has asked that those symbols be removed, so why is displaying swastikas more of an issue in the West? Education is the solution, not banning. That’s what Swastika Rehabilitation Day is all about.