The news coverage right now has been seized by political antagonism from the Right and Left side of the spectrum. Currently, the most common topics discussed or displayed on TV were started with the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police and the proceeding BLM movement. A very common gesture or symbol that is often attacked or faces attempts to be prohibited by groups that have been persecuted, marginalized, or associated with the Left leaning activist groups has been the Sieg Heil Nazi Salute from World War II. Often these groups say it is a form of Hate Speech and only used by white supremacists. The Sieg Heil Nazi Salute literally means only”Hail Victory”. Its use in the West is used primarily by white supremacist groups in rallies, protests, or simply to trigger people that they find offensive. MOTM does not have an official stance on the Sieg Heil Nazi Salute, but we do think several things should be considered before it is considered banned from public or not considered a form of free speech.
One thing to consider is that if you erase the Sieg Heil salute from history you also erase the facts it existed before Nazis even came to power or that is currently used all the way around the world. However, that doesn’t not mean that it entirely does not have any roots related to Antisemitism.
"The spoken greeting "Heil" became popular in the pan-German movement around 1900.[14] It was used by the followers of Georg Ritter von Schönerer, the head of the Austrian Alldeutsche Partei, ("Pan-German Party") who considered himself leader of the Austrian Germans, and has been described by Carl E. Schorske as "The strongest and most thoroughly consistent anti-Semite that Austria produced" before the coming of Hitler. Hitler took both the "Heil" greeting – which was popularly used in his "hometown" of Linz when he was a boy[15] – and the title of "Führer" for the head of the Nazi Party from Schönerer.[14][16]"
The origin of the Sieg Heil salute was thought to come from a French painter in 1784. Though widely believed that it was used in Ancient Rome, there is little historical evidence that it was.
"The extended arm saluting gesture is widely, and erroneously, believed to be based on an ancient Roman custom, but no known Roman work of art depicts it, nor does any extant Roman text describe it.[17]Jacques-Louis David's 1784 painting Oath of the Horatii displayed a raised arm salutatory gesture in an ancient Roman setting.[18][19][20] The gesture and its identification with ancient Rome was advanced in other French neoclassic art.[21]"
The most paradoxical thing of all is that the USA introduced the Roman Salute, known as the Bellamy salute in 1892 for the Pledge Allegiance to the American Flag. Ironically, it was used in the USA until 1942. It was replaced with the hand over the heart pledge due to WWII and people’s objections to the Germany’s use.
"The Bellamy salute is a palm-out salute described by Francis Bellamy, the author of the American Pledge of Allegiance, as the gesture which was to accompany the pledge. During the period when it was used with the Pledge of Allegiance, it was sometimes known as the "flag salute". Both the Pledge and its salute originated in 1892. Later, during the 1920s and 1930s, Italian fascists and Nazi Germans adopted a salute which was very similar, and which was derived from the Roman salute, a gesture that was popularly (albeit erroneously) believed to have been used in ancient Rome.[1] This resulted in controversy over the use of the Bellamy salute in the United States. It was officially replaced by the hand-over-heart salute when Congress amended the Flag Code on December 22, 1942."
Currently, it is used in several places in the world such as in the swearing in of the President of Mexico.
Notice the Roman Salute cooperated by Hezbollah and Iran pictures Left and Right
However, the Roman Salute is not completely off the hook. It is deployed by Hezbollah, Fatah, and Syrian Baath Party Members, of which most of these groups are considered sympathetic to Antisemitism. However, is this enough to criminalize the Roman Salute? If you’re going to “split hairs” the global community should also consider putting the Black Power Fist under scrutiny too. This symbol does not have the notoriety of the Nazi Seig Hiel salute, but it does represent black empowerment, Black Nationalism, and solidarity. The problem is that the Black Power fist is also utilized and perceived to have strong ties to the Black Panther movement and the Nation of Islam. The Black Panther movement was very Marxist in its core and very socialistic. Though strange to many people, the Nazi movement in Germany had many similarities. For example the Nazi Party was a national socialistic movement. It’s goals were to redistribute wealth and strengthen their ethnic identity. Though it might seem odd, considering what the Nazis did and how they believe themselves to be the superior race, they at one time sought to empower themselves because they thought they were the victims of capitalism, Jewish Business owners, and victims of the outcome of World War 1.
“Hitler's first DAP speech was held in the Hofbräukeller on 16 October 1919. He was the second speaker of the evening, and spoke to 111 people.[43] Hitler later declared that this was when he realised he could really "make a good speech".[30] At first, Hitler spoke only to relatively small groups, but his considerable oratory and propaganda skills were appreciated by the party leadership. With the support of Anton Drexler, Hitler became chief of propaganda for the party in early 1920.[44] Hitler began to make the party more public, and organised its biggest meeting yet of 2,000 people on 24 February 1920 in the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München. Such was the significance of this particular move in publicity that Karl Harrer resigned from the party in disagreement.[45] It was in this speech that Hitler enunciated the twenty-five points of the German Workers' Party manifesto that had been drawn up by Drexler, Feder and himself.[46] Through these points he gave the organisation a much bolder stratagem[44] with a clear foreign policy (abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles, a Greater Germany, Eastern expansion and exclusion of Jews from citizenship) and among his specific points were: confiscation of war profits, abolition of unearned incomes, the State to share profits of land and land for national needs to be taken away without compensation.[47] In general, the manifesto was antisemitic, anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, anti-Marxist and anti-liberal.[48] To increase its appeal to larger segments of the population, on the same day as Hitler's Hofbräuhaus speech on 24 February 1920, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ("National Socialist German Workers' Party", or Nazi Party).[49][50][d] The word "Socialist" was added by the party's executive committee, over Hitler's objections, in order to help appeal to left-wing workers.[53] These rallies soon became massive displays of Nazi paramilitary power and attracted many recruits. The Nazis' strongest appeal was to the lower middle-classes – farmers, public servants, teachers and small businessmen – who had suffered most from the inflation of the 1920s, so who feared Bolshevism more than anything else. The small business class was receptive to Hitler's antisemitism, since it blamed Jewish big business for its economic problems. University students, disappointed at being too young to have served in the War of 1914–1918 and attracted by the Nazis' radical rhetoric, also became a strong Nazi constituency. By 1929, the party had 130,000 members.”
Very much like the Nazi movement the Nation of Islam also has a huge anti-Semitic presence.
"The Anti-Defamation League,[3] the American Jewish Committee,[4][5] the American Jewish Congress,[6] and the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism[7] have condemned the Nation of Islam as antisemitic. Scholars of comparative religion have argued that the Nation of Islam is antisemitic and advocates Holocaust denial. For instance, in the Global Journal of Classical Theology, Professor Richard V. Pierard writes: Holocaust denial is a stock in trade of Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Skinhead...and one also finds it in Black hate groups like Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, some Afrocentrist writers, and in Arab anti-Israel rhetoric. The common thread running through all these manifestations is anti-Semitism; that is, hatred or dislike of Jews.[8] A report by the Stephen Roth Institute for studying Anti-Semitism and Racism states the following: Louis Farrakhan, and the Nation of Islam (NOI), which he heads, have a long, well-documented record of hate-filled and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Over the years, NOI ministers and representatives have regularly expressed anti-Semitic, anti-white, anti-homosexual and anti-Catholic sentiments in their speeches. Furthermore, The Final Call, the NOI's official organ, reflects the anti-Semitism of Farrakhan and his organization.[7] For many years certain Nation of Islam (NOI) ministers have been preaching that "the Jews" control the American economy and the world economy. Statements to this effect can be found in its newspaper The Final Call and in speeches given in their temples and on college campuses. For example, the Dallas Observer recorded this dialogue between Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and an audience to which he was speaking: Farrakhan: "Is the Federal Reserve owned by the government?" Audience: "No." Farrakhan: "Who owns the federal reserve?" Audience: "Jews." Farrakhan: "The same year they set up the IRS, they set up the FBI. And the same year they set up the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith...It could be a coincidence...[I want] to see Black intellectuals free...I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community."[15]"
And the Black Panther Party is considered to have many Black Nationalism and Marxist ideals.
"The document was created in 1966 by the founders of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, whose political thoughts lay within the realm of Marxism and Black Nationalism. Each one of the statements were put in place for all of the Black Panther Party members to live by and actively practice every day. The Ten-Point program was released on May 15, 1967 in the second issue of the party's weekly newspaper, TheBlack Panther. All succeeding 537 issues contained the program, titled "What We Want Now!."[2]"
Though many of the African American community demands and needs were not being met prior to civil rights movement of the 60's and a much lesser degree in the current world, some of the demands of the Black Panther Party were probably rational and made sense aside from their more radical revolutionary Marxist dogma. The danger of erasing history and over simplifying hand gestures attributed to certain revolutionary groups or racists groups is that it white washes events such as the Cultural Revolution of China. Though the Communist Party led by Mao in China may have had good intentions for China's poor it ended up in killing up to 20 million people. The fist of unity in the air has it's roots in Communist and Socialist movements. Many of these groups shredded cultural beliefs, traditions, and persecuted religious groups. And many of them shared or were indirectly or directly harboring Antisemitic leanings.
"Estimates of the death toll in Cultural Revolution, including civilians and Red Guards, vary greatly, ranging from hundreds of thousands to 20 million.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The exact figure of those who were persecuted or died during the Cultural Revolution, however, may never be known, since many deaths went unreported or were actively covered up by the police or local authorities. The state of Chinese demographics records was also deplorable at the time, and the PRC has been hesitant to allow formal research into the period.[133] In addition, the Banqiao Dam failure, considered by some as the greatest technological catastrophe of the world, occurred in Zhumadian region of Henan province in August 1975, resulting in a death toll from 85,600-240,000.[134][135]
Moreover, millions of people in China were violently persecuted, especially in the struggle sessions. Those identified as spies, "running dogs", "revisionists", or coming from a suspect class (including those related to former landlords or rich peasants) were subject to beating, imprisonment, rape, torture, sustained and systematic harassment and abuse, seizure of property, denial of medical attention, and erasure of social identity. Intellectuals were also targeted; many survivors and observers suggest that almost anyone with skills over that of the average person was made the target of political "struggle" in some way. At least hundreds of thousands of people were murdered, starved, or worked to death. Millions more were forcibly displaced. Young people from the cities were forcibly moved to the countryside, where they were forced to abandon all forms of standard education in place of the propaganda teachings of the CPC.[127] Some people were not able to stand the torture and, losing hope for the future, committed suicide. Researchers have pointed out that at least 100-200 thousand people committed suicides during early Cultural Revolution.[136] One of the most famous cases of attempted suicide due to political persecution involved Deng Xiaoping's son, Deng Pufang, who jumped (or was thrown) from a four-story building after being "interrogated" by Red Guards. Instead of dying, he developed paraplegia. At the same time, a large number of "unjust, false, mistaken cases (冤假错案)" appeared due to political purges. In addition to those who died in massacres, a large number of people died or permanently disabled due to lynching or other forms of persecution. From 1968–1969, the "Cleansing the Class Ranks", a massive political purge launched by Mao, caused the deaths of at least 500,000 people.[158][170] Purges of similar nature such as the "One Strike-Three Anti Campaign" and the "Campaign towards the May Sixteenth elements" were launched subsequently in the 1970s.[136][138]
In Inner Mongolia incident, official sources in 1980 stated that 346,000 people were wrongly arrested, over 16,000 were persecuted to death or executed, and over 81,000 were permanently disabled.[158][171][172] However, academics have estimated a death toll between 20,000 and 100,000.[158][173][171][172]
In the Zhao Jianmin Spy Case of Yunnan, more than 1.387 million people were implicated and persecuted, which accounted for 6% of the total population of Yunnan at the time.[158][174] From 1968–1969, more than 17,000 people died in massacres and 61,000 people were crippled for life; in Kunming (the capital city of Yunnan) alone, 1,473 people were killed and 9,661 people were permanently disabled.[158][174]
Fist raised is also a major form of solidarity in North Korea...
And Iran....
We would like to thank you if you made it all they way to the bottom of this article. Officially, MOTM does not have a stance on the Roman Salute or the Fist of Power. Our goal was only to look further into the origins of these hand gestures, history, and generic meanings. We hope to only instigate a more meaningful debate about their presence and meaning.
Look out out for the MOTM coming Podcast The Swastika an ancient symbol for 12,000 year of history and 75 years of fear and condemnation "12,000 Years of Symbolism; The earliest swastika ever found was uncovered in Mezine, Ukraine, carved on an ivory figurine which dates back an incredible 12,000 years. One of the earliest cultures that are known to have used the Swastika was a Neolithic culture in Southern Europe, in the area that is now Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Vinca Culture, which dates back around 8,000 years."
Please feel free to watch or video; JEFFERSONISM: CONTENTIOUS ROLE OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE.