Swedish Jesus in Tel Aviv
According to The Local, an English Swedish daily, the blue crossing boxes in Tel Aviv (and elsewhere) are meant to remind the cross-walker of God and Jesus.
From the article:
“Prisma Teknik AB, the Swedish company behind the pedestrian signals, has now admitted that the hand is meant as a hidden symbol for God. In fact, the company says it has never made any secret of the fact.
“We want to show that there is only one way to reach God and that is up and through Jesus“, CEO Jan Lund told The Local.”
What everyone thought – Swedes included – was merely a pointer to reinforce the button to be pushed to signal a walker’s desire to cross is in fact an idiotic and pointless “reminder” of Jesus, How silly is this.
While this post is clearly not about language itself, it does illustrate the underpinnings of daily things we take for granted. It’s interesting to note that this is done ” entirely intentional”; that it’s a devotion of some sort. Even though the hand to God, as it were, is pointing toward the Christian God, Tel Aviv could, it seems, care less.
Other countries are not so relaxed: “the Swedish Christian company still supplies pedestrian signal signs to customers in Saudi Arabia, who promptly cover up the hand when it arrives in the Arab state.” More absurd than the pointing hand itself is the authoritarian who insists on covering the marker. After all, the hand is still there. It’s still pointing. And without the helpful hand to guide, how would the cross walker know how to operate the device?
If the symbol is so offensive surely there are other pedestrian crossing signal companies around. The manufacturer is explicit:
“The Local asked Jan Lund why his company does not simply manufacture a special pedestrian signal without the iconic index finger for the Arab market.
‘We want to be a servant of God and we have been blessed as a company for 21 years, so we won’t change for anyone’, he said.”
Why continue to purchase from a company who so flaunts there religious beliefs that inherently contravene the Saudis’ beliefs? It’s strange.
The next time you’re crossing Menachem Begin by Azraeli Towers and you see the little white hand pointing skyward think about all the seemingly innocuous symbols that are seen everyday and wonder what lies beneath them.