Can the appearance in today’s world of a swastika ever be anything other than a viciously anti-Semitic act? Surprisingly the Anti-Defamation League – the nation’s premier chronicler of anti-Semitism and hate in general – is now saying that the appearance of the infamous Nazi Socialist Party symbol is not always targeting Jews. Indeed, last week the ADL took the controversial step of shifting how it records such incidents in its well-known annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents. It did so by dropping appearances from the report of what it deems “random swastikas.”

“We know that the swastika has, for some, lost its meaning as the primary symbol of Nazism and instead become a more generalized symbol of hate. So we are being more careful to include graffiti incidents that specifically target Jews or Jewish institutions as we continue the process of re-evaluating and redefining how we measure anti-Jewish incidents,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said.

That has troubled and outraged some, particularly Holocaust survivors and their families, a group that understandably sees visceral anti-Jew hatred when the symbol shows up.

While the ADL is right to make a distinction, it seems to be doing so too easily. The agency should include in its annual audit instances in which the swastika and perhaps KKK markings – so often the two appear jointly – arise.

Ironically, the swastika is not so new an image. There is archaeological evidence of it from as far back as the Neolithic period and it is common in some Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Back then, it was simply a design, a geographical figure and often appeared in reverse of the modern version. (For a short history of the swastika, read this: http://history1900s.about.com/cs/swastika/a/swastikahistory.htm ).

Nonetheless, in the modern world it is replete with profound and disturbing meaning. Its illustrators may indeed not understand the searing pain they are causing by its representation. That, however, neither makes its appearance irrelevant nor something left for others to note.