From the Swastika to the Big Ben: Rewriting history through terrorizing sacred cultural symbols and how we take our symbols back

י"ח באייר, תשפ"ה

May 16, 2025

By Ashri Ima Sari

From the Swastika to the Big Ben.pdf

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"Capture the flag” is one of the oldest war games humanity has been playing. In our day, most of us have either never actually played this game, or we have indulged in it as a fun sport, social or computer game activity. It is not a game we tend to think of as being integrated into our lives, and yet -- we are all still playing this game, whether we know it or not. 

The flag is a symbol meant to represent the group it belongs to. In the past it differentiated between families, clans and tribes. With time it evolved to symbolise cities, armies and kingdoms. Raising one's flag over the enemy's city ment “we conquered this land” and “this land is now mine.” 

The act of raising the flag when one wins created an association between the symbolic flags and the pride a nation and its people have. We raise our flag when we win, we raise our flag in celebrations, and we lower our flags in mourning. 

The Whisky War is an actual “Capture the flag” war between the Kingdom of Denmark and Canada. This almost 50-year-war started in 1973 and ended in 2022. In it, a small rock island was in dispute between the two countries. The maritime border fell in the center of this uninhabitable rock. In 1973 the coast guard of one country came to the rock and raised their flag. The coast guard of the other country saw the flag and took it down, raising their own flag instead. This switching of flags kept going until in 1984 the Canadian soldiers decided to leave behind not only a raised Canadian flag, but also a whisky bottle. This polite apology over a “peaceful” act of war, was well accepted by the soldiers raising the flag for Denmark, who also left behind their own whisky bottle. Thus, the pattern of switching between the two flags and the two whiskey bottles started, giving this war the name “the whisky wars.” 

The resolution of 2022 settled this maritime dispute by officially splitting this rock island between the two countries. We can only hope that there are now two flags there, side by side, with a little whisky shop for all future soldiers (and tourists) to enjoy. 

While the Whisky War is a whimsical version of a capture the flag war, we are all living in one global version of capture the flag, and we are being distracted. While our enemies manipulate western societies, they have us look away from the undercurrent pulling us all under their power without even realising.  

The swastika is the model of action -- it is the template of how to use our own symbols against us, while drilling so much fear that we will no longer be able to take back the cultural symbols that are being stolen from our historical and cultural background. 

Not far from where Moses last stood as he watched the Israelits crossing the river of Jordan and entering the land of Israel, there is the Apostles Church. In 1902, a priest named Don Giuseppe Manfredi found the abandoned church, which is dated to have been completed in the year 578. This church has magnificent mosaics that were further researched in our modern times. 

One of the mosaic patterns that were found there was a beautiful pattern of swastikas. Swastikas were used as symbols of divinity for over 7000 years. They are used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The archaeologist “Schliemann discovered his epic city—and encountered the swastika—on the Aegean coast of Turkey… … He quickly realized the site held many different layers from societies going back thousands of years. Schliemann had found Troy—and the remains of civilizations coming before and after it. And on shards of pottery and other artifacts, he found at least 1,800 variations on the same symbol: spindle-whorls, or swastikas.”

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine has an exhibition of pots that have swastika’s that date back 4000 years. “When the Nazis occupied Kiev in World War Two they were so convinced that these pots were evidence of their own Aryan ancestors that they took them back to Germany. (They were returned after the war.)”

While the swastika might have its roots in ideas of divinity, peace, world-order balance and love, the extreme ideology of hate and the trauma that is now associated with it, robbed the richness of this symbol's history from our collective consciousness. 

Natzisim has not passed from the world. In the many pro-terror demonstrations around the world, masking as support for the Palestinians, there were multiple swastikas raised, not as symbols of peace, but with the intent to trigger Hitler’s ideas of mass killing of Jews. 

The old symbol is once more raised alongside calls for implementing “the last solution” -- Hitlers plan to kill all Jews around the world. Today, the swastika is used alongside the burning of the flags of western countries who are brave enough to stand up against terror and forces of evil -- like Israel and the USA. 

My grandparents from one side of the family survived the holocaust and have horrible stories to share about what they have gone through. On the other side of my family, my grandfather fought with the allied forces, under the Canadian flag and against the swastika flag. The passed down trauma that comes up with every time a swastika is shown is something I feel deeply, and it is the exact response those using these symbols of hate and murder wish to have on us. 

The collective trauma that the Jewish people have of this symbol is massive. Anyone who has ancestors who still remember the level of evil that Hitler and his many followers spread around the world, might share some of the deep visceral pain that was passed down to the next generations of the Holocaust survivors, who against all odds lived through times of evil forces trying to take over the world. 

We wished to believe this type of evil has gone from the world. But it did not. When we experience something so traumatic, we psychologically feel a benefit by ignoring or forgetting the pain we experienced in the past. We move on. We build.  

When we heal from trauma, many times it is easier to first focus on building a new future, and only later, once we build this new future, can we relax a little and start unpacking the trauma we went through. This is true when an individual heals, and it is true when entire societies need to heal. When we are broken, first we rebuild, then we heal. 

And yet, when our evil enemy has figured out the western patterns of thinking and psychological patterns of healing, we no longer have the privilege to first heal and then build. When they come for our symbols, we must fight and defend them. When they are after our flags of western culture and values, we have no choice but to stand up against them with pride and loudly proclaim “no one will touch our flags!” 

While raising our flags is a sign of pride, celebration and ownership, and lowering our flag is a symbol of national mourning, terror groups and those who follow them use our flags to taunt us and spread fear. 

When they rip the Israeli or American flag and burn it in demonstrations across the world, they mean “we will kill and burn you.” When Iran makes sure to paint an Israel flag on the floor of their military facility and film themselves walking over it, it is an active act of war, stating “all the weapons you see in this video were created with the sole purpose of the destruction of Israel.” When Hammas releases hostages with a large poster behind them they are saying “Jerusalme is ours and we are coming to get it.” No amount of peace talks will ever change these very deliberate psychological fear mongering choices of actions.  

These groups not only use our flags to terroris us, and spread fear to insure we stay silent as they take over the western world. They are actively seeking the symbols that will destroy not only our future, but also our past. 

Our enemies have learned that to break down societies that refuse to die, as the Jews have done over millennials, what needs to be done is not only attacking the actual people, it is not only legalizing discrimination as Hitler did, and as Quebecers in Canada did, and as Canada did when they decided that Jerusalme is no longer in Israel. These forces of evil are looking to change the history of our people. They understand that to kill those who refuse to roll over and die -- the roots of their cultures must be removed. They try to uproot our histories so that we no longer have the ability to tell the truth from lies. This is gaslighting on steroids.   

The question is -- what are our flags? What are these cultural roots that they are trying to change? While every culture and country must examine this for themselves, overall, the principle is that they are after uprooting anything and everything our cultures hold dear. There are no red lines. They will make up whichever lie is needed to manipulate and brainwash more people into eradicating the roots of our culture, and thus, weakening our entire societies.

The fight for the roots of our cultures is no small thing. This is what leads to lies about The Big Ben in England, one of England's most known landmarks.  

In 2019 the idea that the Big Ben was a clock that was stolen from the Palestenians was put into motion. This preposterous idea created such waves that articles needed to be written about it, and even Snops, a website aimed at finding out which news articles are fake and what are real, had actually researched this topic to be able to fully debunk their story. 

Nonetheless, once a lie is spread, it is extremely difficult to undo its damage. In March 2025 we saw the palestinian flag raised on the Big Ben. This was no random choice of location. This was not simply about being seen, or getting a cool picture. This was about taking over the landmarks that represent the rich history of England. 

When protesters around the world choose where to demonstrate against Israel, it usually has nothing to do with the Israeli embassies or the local government halls. They target Jewish communities in a way that spreads the most fear: They bully Jewish shop owners. They shoot at schools. They burn synagogues. They demonstrate outside of synagogues, schools, and Jewish elderly homes. Such demonstrations are not about Israel, they are about planting fear in Jewish communities around the world, as was done in European communities leading to WW2. 

This is an attempt to present themselves as powerful and scary, so that we all bow down in fear and silence. They climb the Big Ben and burn flags outside the Sydney Opera House. They turn the Eurovision song competition into their own cultural war zone. 

This fear mongering strategy is not new. They have perfected older attempts of murderous leaders and on the backs of Israelis they experimented with how to get it just right so western societies will not notice what they are doing. They found ways to turn the Jewish holy places into their own, and as of now, most Israelis and most of the world fell for their lies and had forgotten the true history of the land of Israel. So many of us so easily disposed of the heritage of our ancestors. 

The name “Palestine” is a reminder of just how old the idea of cutting us off from our heritage is. Palestine was a name given to the land of Israel by those who conquered it two thousand years ago, with the specific intention to sever the relationship between the Jewish people and our land. It did not work 2000 years ago, it will not work now. 

The fight of the Arab and Muslim nations against the west and modern countries breaks down our culture piece by piece. Hitler found a way to slowly pass legislation against Jewish people. He kept going until he was able to literally round Jews like cattle, and lead them packed in trains, into camps where they were gassed to death. 

And though there is ample evidence to these events, our haters are literally teaching that the holocaust had never happened. Holocaust deniers are a real thing, and it is yet another testament to how the side of evil will lie and manipulate truth to get their way. 

Here too, no one can tell me I am wrong. My grandparents survived the holocaust. My great grandfather was “lucky” to be one of the only Jews that survived the job of “cleaning” the gas chambers between each “shower” the Jews went into. He was forced to drag out bodies of naked Jews into mass graves behind the death camp. Yet our enemies try to deny the reality of such evil. 

Today, our enemies of darkness have used the same method to not only infiltrate the UN, security counsels, democratic parties across the world, and start lawsuits that are a joke to any courtroom and judge that needs to even sit and listen to them. Now they have also perfected the method of taking over our landmarks and our history. 

For Hammas, on October 7th, 2023, it was very clear -- the flag was Jerusalem. They named their attack “al-aqsa” and have trained their terrorists to survive multiple days hiding in the Israeli desert, as their goal was to reach Jerusalem and take over the Al Aqsa Mosque. 

It was the brilliant Israeli army, police and civilians that were able to block the worst terror attack ever seen from spreading even further. If we were not able to stop them, they would have kept killing all the Jews and Israelis all the way to Jerusalem. In Israel, Jerusalem is “the flag” they are going after. We will not have it. 

The claim that Jerusalem has any holy importance to the “Palestenians” is not more than a connection to a beautiful historical structure that holds no actual holiness for the Muslim world. According to the Muslim religion, Jerusalem is not a holy place for them. Their connection to this location is only through the Jewish Abrahamic roots they share with the Jewish people. Yet the actual holiness of the place came into being after the Muslim roots split from the Jewish ones. 

This did not stop them from weaving stories turning the most holy Jewish place, the most holy Christian place, to be their own. They will have no problem raising flags of hate over what is the only place for Jews to build their house of love, unity and peace of the entire world, in the name of the one G-d that is all that we are, in our united and loving form. 

While the site of the Jewish Temple can remain holy for all religions under the hands of Israel, the “Palestenians,” backed by the Arab League, will not only have this holy place for themselves alone, they will also make sure to kill anyone that is not willing to follow their rules and their laws. They have said so themselves. 

Just as Hitler made a wrong connection between the swastika and the idea of “the pure German” and had caused a symbol of peace turn into a symbol of hate and fear, the Palestenians have been attempting to take the symbols of Jewish holiness, peace and divinity and turn it into their own cultural history. 

If we are forced to play this war game of cultural, religious and historical flags, we cannot simply stay silent and do nothing as they come for our culture, as they come for our landmarks, as they come for our history, as they come for our holy places, as they come for our justice system, as they come for our politics, as they come for all that western societies believe in. We are at a world-wide-game of capture the flag -- and it is not a game we can afford losing. 

If you see a swastika, paint an Israeli flag or a peace symbol over it. If they demonstrate at your cultural sites, demand the government intervene and make it illegal to use cultural symbols and sites for their propaganda. If they try to tell you stories about the palestinian history, about the horrible Jewish and Israeli occupation -- do your homework and check if what they are telling you is true or is it a very well told lie. 

Personally, I believe that we need to take back every single landmark they wrongfully claim as their own, and it starts with Jerusalem. It starts with the official building of the Jewish Temple. A temple, under Israeli laws, will be inclusive and inviting for all -- every person, every religion, every country. We have offered them a state with part of Jerusalem in the past, they had refused -- it is time to stop rolling over and letting them walk all over us and our history. It is time to take back what is ours. The Temple, even in biblical times, was not a place for Jews only. It is a holy place for all who seek spirituality, for all religions. We work for that vision of Jerusalem, not the vision of divisiveness, murder and death that terror organisations and their supporters across the world are trying to work towards.  

This is how we win -- wherever they show the tiniest desire to take over our landmark -- we renown it!

Paint the Big Ben in blue, red and white. Donate and work to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem. Whatever they tried to take over as their own, take it back -- take back what they have stolen. Our history is ours. Our culture is ours. Our truth cannot be erased. Our roots will not be uprooted. When they come to uproot us, we chain all our roots together in unity and we deepen and strengthen our unity and our cultural history. 

These forces of lies, manipulation and darkness will not be able to withstand the tremendous light that united love, light and support can bring into the world. 

Alone, we are scared, weak and hopeless. Together, in communities, in organisations, in nations -- we are unstoppable. And it is up to every single one of us to do what they can to spread the light and the truth in their area. 

It takes the responsibility of our leaders of the western world to stop falling prey to the manipulation of these dark stories. It takes our leaders to galvanise their communities and organisations into action. 

If we do not join together to fight back against this force of evil, our goodness, our heritage, our elder’s legacy -- it will not be remembered. Unit, so we can win, once and for all, this horrid game of capture the flag. 

From the swastika to the Big Ben, from the Holocaust to the Third Temple -- we own our past, we know our history, we stick to the truth, and stand strong against lies and we build. We build now, before healing. First we build for love, for peace, for the forces of good to wash over us, then we heal. And we do it together. 

May we all know days of true peace. May we all live in communities that cherish life, education and spreading of love. May we all feel safe enough to share our ideas and step up to the challenges that face us. May we be the ones that get to build this new future of light and peace -- because we can.  

References:

 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

2. Lorraine Boissoneault; Updated by Sonja Anderson (Updated: September 24, 2024 | Originally Published: April 6, 2017) How the Swastika, an Ancient Symbol of Good Fortune Used Around the World, Became the Nazi Logo www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-swastika-an-ancient-symbol-of-good-fortune-used-around-the-world-became-the-nazi-logo-180962812

3. Mukti Jain (23 October 2014). Campion How the world loved the swastika - until Hitler stole it https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29644591

4. https://en.fatehnews.org/2019/09/jerusalem-stolen-clock/

5. No, Big Ben Wasn't Stolen from Palestinians (Published March 10, 2021)

   https://www.snopes.com/news/2021/03/10/no-big-ben-wasnt-stolen-from-palestinians/