Swastika wrapped inside Star of David flown over Venice Beach, New York, New Jersey

Venice Beach has never been my favorite part of L.A. It’s just so ... weird. Latest example: Yesterday afternoon a plane flew over Venice Beach with a banner in tow that had a swastika wrapped inside the Star of David.

The banner got a little more attention than the Miller Lite banners I tend to see in the South Bay. And one beach-goer sent a picture to The Jewish Journal, which explained it on Bloggish:

The airplane banner reads, “proswastika.org.”  It was sponsored by the Raelian group, which seeks to reclaim the swastika as a religious symbol.  From the web site:

The Swastika has been a symbol of peace for millions of Hindus, Buddhists and also Raelians since it is their symbol of infinity in time, their symbol of eternity.

Today, in order to redeem themselves for past horrible discriminations done under a flag showing this symbol, German authorities are discriminating again, telling Hindus, Buddhists, Raelians and all other groups who have been using this symbol for centuries for some of them, that the representation of their beliefs is not welcome in Europe!

Banning cannot solve anything, education is the only way!

Of course, what better way to bring world peace than to fly a swastika inside a Star of David over a crowded beach on the Westside of Los Angeles?

Turns out the “education” effort wasn’t limited to wacky old Venice Beach. Similar flyovers occurred in New York, New Jersey and Long Island—all part of the third annual Swastika Rehabilitation Day.

If the Raelian name doesn’t sound familiar, they’re these guys. They’re all about aliens.

Starting with the founding of Raelism in 1974, the religious group claimed the swastika within the Star of David as its symbol. It later dropped that symbol for “a Star of David-shape ... with a pinwheel filling the star.” But it looks like the Raelians are trying to reclaim the swastika.

I don’t see that working out for them. Regardless of what the swastika once stood for, it’s application has been forever tainted. Similarly, I don’t expect a lot of couples to start naming their boys Adolf. It’s just too creepy.