The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) and Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York (Heiwa) co-sponsored a three-day event aimed at spreading awareness, encouraging dialogue, and developing a deeper understanding of the Swastika – a symbol held sacred by nearly 2 billion Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and other communities around the world. Held during the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week, the event highlighted the need to remove various misconceptions that have incorrectly deemed the Swastika as a symbol of hatred in the west. The final day was marked with remarks by eminent spiritual and community leaders and a screening of Manji, a documentary aimed at promoting dialogue around the Swastika. Dr. Uma Mysorekar, the President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, commended CoHNA and Heiwa for this important event and the need for greater education around this topic. James Lynch, the President of the Buddhist Council of New York, shared how, as an African American whose ancestors were subject to slavery, the Hakenkreuz brings fear and intimidation and yet we must actively de-link this symbol of hatred from the swastika, which is a symbol of peace, in our efforts to fight bigotry and intolerance. This sentiment was also shared by Bawa Jain, the Founding Secretary-General of the World Council of Religious Leaders, who highlighted dialogues between Hindu and Jewish leaders at the highest levels and a recognition of the Swastika as a sacred and ancient symbol at the 2008 Hindu-Jewish Summit in Jerusalem. A statement from Howard Aubin, a Board Member of the town of Swastika, New York, shared recollections of how he saw the Swastika on Boy Scouts coins and how the town’s residents overwhelmingly voted to keep the name so as not to let Hitler define hatred from his grave. A sneak preview of Manji was followed by a conversation with its producer Adam Weissman. Weissman, who is Jewish, recalled a jarring effect when he first encountered Dr. Nakagaki’s book and work on this topic. Yet, he gradually understood the need to stimulate greater dialogue between all parties in order to understand each other’s perspectives. This feeling was echoed in subsequent remarks by Jeff Kelman, a Master’s Candidate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College while also impressing upon the need to distinguish between Swastika and the Hakenkreuz while rightly denouncing the latter. The events closed with an interactive panel discussion with Dr. Nakagaki, Pandit Satish Sharma, Director of the Global Hindu Federation, Rev. Monshin Paul Naamon, Abbot of the Tendai Buddhist Institute and Naresh Jain of JAINA. Pandit Sharma shared how colonial rule around the world had created myriad problems for indigenous traditions, and that the conflation of the Swastika with the Hakenkreuz was one such deliberate attempt to shift the blame on traditions that had nothing to do with campaigns of hate. Rev. Monshin, who is also of Jewish heritage and had relatives who were holocaust survivors, echoed the fact that Hitler’s symbol of hatred brings fear and trauma to many Jews and minorities, and yet the important task of distinguishing the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz must continue.