Editing Swastika (section)

===Western misinterpretation of Asian use===

Since the end of the 20th century, and through the early 21st century, confusion and controversy has occurred when personal-use goods bearing the traditional Jain, Buddhist, or Hindu symbols have been exported to the West, notably to North America and Europe, and have been interpreted by purchasers as bearing a Nazi symbol. This has resulted in several such products having been boycotted or pulled from shelves.

When a ten-year-old boy in [[Lynbrook, New York]], bought a set of [[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon cards]] imported from Japan in 1999, two of the cards contained the left-facing Buddhist swastika. The boy's parents misinterpreted the symbol as the right-facing Nazi swastika and filed a complaint to the manufacturer. [[Nintendo of America]] announced that the cards would be discontinued, explaining that what was acceptable in one culture was not necessarily so in another; their action was welcomed by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] who recognised that there was no intention to offend, but said that international commerce meant that "Isolating [the swastika] in Asia would just create more problems."<ref name="Heller 2008" />

In 2002, [[Christmas cracker]]s containing plastic toy red pandas sporting swastikas were pulled from shelves after complaints from customers in Canada. The manufacturer, based in China, said the symbol was presented in a traditional sense and not as a reference to the Nazis, and apologised to the customers for the cross-cultural mix-up.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[CBC News]] |date=30 December 2002 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toy-pandas-bearing-swastikas-a-cultural-mix-up-1.343550 |title=Toy pandas bearing swastikas a cultural mix-up}}</ref>

In 2020, the retailer [[Shein (company)|Shein]] pulled a necklace featuring a left-facing swastika pendant from its website after receiving backlash on social media. The retailer apologized for the lack of sensitivity but noted that the swastika was a Buddhist symbol.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Sophie |title=Popular online retailer Shein apologizes for selling swastika necklace after backlash |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shein-nazi-symbol-swastika-necklace/ |access-date=27 June 2021 |work=CBS News |publisher=[[CBS]] |date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809110705/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shein-nazi-symbol-swastika-necklace/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Swastika as distinct from ''Hakenkreuz'' debate <span class="anchor" id="Hakenkreuz"></span>====
Beginning in the early 2000s, partially as a reaction to the publication of a book titled ''The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?'' by [[Steven Heller (design writer)|Steven Heller]],<ref name="Heller 2008">{{cite book |last1=Heller |first1=Steven |title=The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? |date=2008 |publisher=Allworth Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58115-507-5 }}</ref> there has been a movement by [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], and [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] to "reclaim" the swastika as a sacred symbol.<ref name="BBC News 2014"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Alemdar |first1=Melis |title=Asian communities seek to reclaim the swastika symbol in the US |url=https://www.trtworld.com/americas/asian-communities-seek-to-reclaim-the-swastika-symbol-in-the-us-63100 |access-date=3 December 2024 |work=TRT World |language=en}}</ref>

The main barrier to the effort to "reclaim", "restore", or "reassess" the swastika comes from the decades of extremely negative association in the Western world following the Nazi Party's adoption of it in the 1920s. As well, [[white supremacist]] groups still cling to the symbol as an icon of power and identity.<ref name="ADL"/>

Many media organizations in the West also continue to describe neo-Nazi usage of the symbol as a swastika, or sometimes with the "Nazi" adjective written as "Nazi Swastika".<ref name="USA Today, Marc Ramirez, August 28, 2022">{{cite news |last=Ramirez |first=Marc |title=Is the swastika a symbol of hate or peaceful icon? Faith groups try to save reviled emblem |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/08/28/swastika-hate-symbol-link-dharmic-faiths/10342050002/ |website=USA Today |access-date=16 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Teitel |first=Emma |title=Truck protest teaches timely lessons about the current face of antisemitism |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2022/02/11/truck-protest-teaches-timely-lessons-about-the-current-face-of-antisemitism.html |website=Toronto Star |date=11 February 2022 |access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> Groups that oppose this media terminology do not wish to censor such usage, but rather to shift coverage of antisemitic and hateful events to describe the symbol in this context as a "{{lang|de|Hakenkreuz}}" or "hooked cross".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heller |first1=Steven |title=The Daily Heller: Anti-hate Symbol Law Will Foster More Hate |url=https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-anti-hate-symbol-law-will-foster-more-hate/ |website=Print Magazine |date=9 March 2021 |access-date=17 February 2022}}</ref>