A proposal to ban hate symbols such as the Nazi swastika and the Islamic State flag has whipped up strong emotions from history buffs and religious groups.
Military memorabilia collectors and Muslim organisations are among the groups that worry the attorney-general’s bill will have unintended consequences, while Jewish groups have celebrated its aim.
The submission inbox for the parliamentary committee that will scrutinise the bill is teeming with letters from collectors, some of whom complain their sector wasn’t consulted.
“I fully support the ban on selling replica items, T-shirts, banners and anything else that could be easily accessible and used to promote hateful ideology,” one collector wrote. “I also fully support the ban on public displays of items that many groups would quite rightly find extremely hurtful and offensive.
“There does, however, need to be a means whereby genuine collectors are able to buy and sell items from each other, hence the need for authorised dealers.”
A Queensland collectors’ society wrote in its submission there should be a difference made between modern products featuring Nazi symbols and historical artefacts.
“Modern collectors would not knowingly have a reproduction in their collections. Our society promotes education and historic events,” the Australian Arms, Militaria and Munitions Historical Society wrote. “The intended rationale has been exceeded to the point of becoming a farce, with everyday Australians with a family history dating [to] WWII [and] Anzac Day veterans likely to become unintended targets.”
The submission noted many collections of World War II items were highly valuable, and that “a typical Hitler youth knife is now attracting value exceeding $5000” and “a historic Luger [firearm] may exceed $40,000”.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich reacted strongly to the comments made in the submissions.
“How dare anyone call the ban on the twisted obsession and booming appetite for Third Reich paraphernalia in Australia a farce?” Abramovich said.
“Profits over morality is what this is, and these grisly items constitute the proceeds of history’s worst crime. The extermination and dehumanisation of millions should not have a tag price and be offered to the highest bidder.
“This grisly trade only fuels the appetite of Jew-haters and Final Solutionists and I once again applaud the federal government for criminalising the sale of Nazi memorabilia so as to stamp out this grotesque and sinister practice. These materials belong in museums, full stop.”
The collecting of Nazi memorabilia has made headlines in recent weeks — the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies recently slammed the sale at auction of concentration camp photographs, Adolf Hitler autographs and other SS paraphernalia.
“These disturbing photos and symbols are a chilling reminder of a horrific period in history and belong in museums to remember the horrors of the Holocaust, not flogged off to the highest bidder at auction,” chief executive Darren Bark told Guardian Australia.
“We urge those who bought these despicable items to donate them to the Sydney Jewish Museum so it can continue to educate the community and the next generation about the horrors of mankind.”
Concerns about the new bill have also been raised by Islamic groups. The Canberra Islamic Centre complained in a submission it hadn’t been consulted about the bill. It noted the IS flag — a terror cult operating in Syria and Iraq, among other places — contains the shahada, or Muslim profession of faith, depicted in the style of the seal used by the prophet Muhammad.
“We strongly refute the claim made in … the [bill’s] explanatory memorandum that the Islamic State flag ‘is widely recognised as representing and conveying ideologies of hatred, violence and racism’,” it said. “We wholeheartedly reject this statement because the words displayed on the flag constitute fundamental principles of the Islamic faith.”
The words of the shahada mean “there is no god but Allah” and “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”, a creed that is displayed on many national flags and mosques worldwide.
The proposal to ban Nazi symbols — including the so-called hakenkreuz, or hooked cross — has been celebrated by Jewish groups.
Because the hakenkreuz closely resembles the swastika symbol used by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, there will be a religious exemption in the bill.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus previously told SBS the ban would apply to any symbol that “could be mistaken” for the Nazi hakenkreuz.
Asked for comment, the attorney-general’s office pointed to comments he previously made to SBS: “We’re going to continue to consult now that I’ve introduced the legislation into the Parliament. And most importantly, it’s been referred to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, who will be calling for submissions, holding public hearings and [listening to] any concerns by groups in the community about just what your question goes to, the wording of this legislation.
“We’re happy to work with anyone in the community who thinks that this legislation can be tweaked to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences. That’s why we have parliamentary processes. That’s why we have a parliamentary committee hearing that is now about to take place.”
The symbols are not the problem. It is violent and aggressive behaviour that is the problem. A bunch of pathetic looking blokes in black shorts carrying any symbol or flag are ridiculous. It is only when they threaten other people and wear masks to hide their faces (rather than to prevent disease) that they are problematic. The Christian cross has been used in many aggressive and violent actions, yet we don’t ban it.
In response to the comments made by Mr Bark, I would argue that he has no right to dictate to individual civilians about how they engage with history. The idea that these items can only be contextualised by being in a Jewish museum is patronising to its core. If ownership of one of these items allows a person to engage with that history, hopefully reflectively, that is fine. Having any small group attempting to control the narrative of history is dangerous.
I would also point out that the NSW Board of Deputies is one of several organisations that believe any criticism of the state of Israel amounts to anti-semitism, a view that cannot withstand any intellectual or moral scrutiny.
Lastly, Mr Abramavich’s comment makes little sense – prohibiting these items will not ‘defeat home grown Nazi’s’. Poor economic conditions, authoritarian popularism and gross inequality are the root cause of fascism and racism now, and were the root cause in 1930’s Germany. The possession of historical items is a minor cause at best. It’s like arguing that Nazism was fuelled by the possession of Tuetonic artefacts.
Well said Rainbow Lorikeet!
Beautifully put.
At best mischievous, claiming a chicken or egg argument?
Germany already, but now many other nations have or are considering the banning of Nazi symbols, not due to their antipathy towards historical artifacts, but the rise in dangerous far right and neo Nazi groups informed &/or supported by locals, the US right and Putin’s regime in Russia.
The latter goes way back, according to Lee in ‘The Beast Reawakens’ (’97) from Soviet times, and under Putin further funding of the far right groups, political parties and MPs in Europe and the USA.
At best mischievous, claiming a chicken or egg argument?
Germany already, but now many other nations have or are considering the banning of symbols, not due to any antipathy towards historical artifacts, but the rise in dangerous far right groups informed &/or supported by locals, the US right and Putin’s regime in Russia, using such symbols.
The latter goes way back, according to Lee in ‘The Beast Reawakens’ (’97) from Soviet times, and under Putin further funding of the far right groups, political parties and MPs in Europe and the USA.
‘many other nations ‘ = many other EU nations
Hello Drew,
You are correct, and I apologise for misinterpreting Mr A’s comments – he was indeed referring to the banning of hate symbols in that comment and not the historical artefacts. My mistake. I believe however, that my point still stands, and that these proposed laws will achieve nothing other than a) driving such ideologies underground and b) further radicalising those on the far right whose beliefs, I would argue, originate not from racism or some sort of solidarity with fascist regimes of the past, but rather from economic alienation and the dismantling of civil society (very real grievances) and a need to blame someone.
The anger such groups feel is legitimate I think – the way it is channeled towards vulnerable minority groups is not. Anger should flow upwards towards those responsible, not sideways or downwards to the other peons struggling under a neoliberal yoke
Have heard someone describe it as lateral & downward attacks, but never upwards so as to avoid upsetting sponsors and commissioners…. some nations nativism and anti-refugee or anti-immigrant sentiment has become an obsession, at the expense of holding power to account.
There is no place for a ‘right not to be offended’ in a free society.
Nazi swastikas and ISIS flags are in my opinion obnoxious however the real threat is not the symbols. The real threats are the organisations and ideologies which stir up hatred and violence. That’s where the focus is required.
Focussing on these symbols is essentially going after an easy target as a way of pretending to do something when in fact it does nothing to deal with dangerous organisations and indiciduals.
Shall we ban apartheid symbols as well? That might prove problematic. How about we ban the objective social and economic conditions which give rise to fascism. Of course, that might prove a bit inconvenient to certain business interests and thereby to their political
partiesagents.Roger Waters is still “under investigation” by German authorities for the triple hammer symbol which was the lietmotif of Pinky “The Wall” movie.
Why not the Manse national symbol, very dodgy looking to the ignorant and culturally challenged.
The hakenkreuz is not “similar” to the symbol used by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains it was copied directly as an aryan symbol, just L/R reversed.
What about Ben B/S wearing the venerable Crusader Cross?
Or those suss Eastern Orthodox crucifixes and the hateful, religious bigotry of the Celtic cross?
The list of triggers is endless as fashions change and intellectual rigour is abandoned.
Manx?
Could also add the not too dissimilar 3 legged Sicilian symbol, which was also inspired by the triskelion motif in Greek antiquity (or so I am assured by Wikipedia).
Cancel culture and the banning of objects, people or words we don’t like is a dangerous and nasty development of recent years. The problem always is – who gets to choose what gets banned? And at the moment that seems to be the Jewish lobby.
Foolish of them, as it just pushes the real issue underground, where it is less easy to detect. There’ll be no warning signs, as there are now.
As the Weimar legislators discovered, having banned the Nasties in 1924, how well that worked for almost 10yrs.