WTF: Cult Plane Flies Swastika Banner Over Manhattan
A religious cult out for attention decided it’d be a wise idea to fly a plane towing a swastika banner behind it over parts of Manhattan and the Jersey Shore on Saturday.
According to Newsmax, the symbol was intertwined with a Star of David. Angered beach-goers put in several complaints to the Long Beach Township Police Department. Those behind the stunt have been revealed to be members of the Raelian Movement. To catch you up, they basically believe that mankind was created by aliens, and the stunt was a part of a movement called “World Swastika Rehabilitation Day,” which aims to remove the negative stigma from the symbol of the Nazi Party and re-market it as “a symbol of peace and good luck,” reports NY Daily.
“Our objective in this annual ‘Swastika Rehabilitation Day’ is to… 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,” said Raelian spokesman Ricky Roehr.
When you want to know how people feel about a particular thing, it’s wise to turn to Twitter. The social network exploded with tweets detailing the incident, according to Gothamist, who opined that the event went off “about as well as you’d expect.” Editor picks from Twitter:
“It’s a gorgeous day… And some idiot is flying a swastika banner off the tail of his plane up and down Manhattan,” said one confused user. “Saw a Pro-Swastika sign fly past the beach today, society is disgusting,” opined another. Summing up pretty much everyone’s thoughts nicely was user Jaime Lynn Fusco, who tweeted, “At the beach today in NYC when a plane passes with a banner with a star of David and a SWASTIKA!!! I couldn’t believe it, Lord help us!” And then of course, my personal favorite, “I just saw a “pro-swastika” plane banner fly over the Verrazano. Are you shitting me?”
Arguably the most balanced and chill reaction came from Don Pripstein, president of the Jewish Community Center of Long Beach Island, who said that the center simply wants to know more. “We’re trying to find out — what are their intentions?” he said in a statement.
I compliment you for your tact, Mr. Pripstein. If you will allow me a response I would say simply, “they are idiots.”
What do you think of the Raelian Movement and their ambitious “World Swastika Rehabilitation Day?” I’m literally dying for your comments on this one.
