The gloves are off. The recent speech made by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at Bar Ilan university marks a new, less politically-correct approach: it places Palestinian rejectionism in its pro-Nazi, historical context, after Israel had for years downplayed discussion of the Mufti’s role in the extermination of the Jews. It is only a shame that Netanyahu's speech did not include the Mufti's agitation against Jews in the Arab world and the part he played in inciting the Farhud pogrom. His extermination plans targeted all Jews - not just those of Europe. Here are extracts from the speech in the Times of Israel:
"The undisputed leader of the Palestinian national movement in the first half of the 20th century was Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini. The Mufti was the living spirit behind those same attacks I described, from 1921 in Jaffa through the Second World War. All this is known, but here are some facts about the Mufti’s activities that are less well known:
"On November 28, 1941, the Mufti flew to Berlin
and met with Hitler. He expressed to Hitler his readiness to cooperate
with Germany in any way. And he did so – both by recruiting Muslim
fighters to join the ranks of the S.S. in the Balkans and by
broadcasting propaganda for the Nazis.
"Here is a typical example of the propaganda broadcast by the Mufti in 1942. I quote, “If England is defeated and its allies overwhelmed, it will provide a final solution to the Jewish question, which in our mind is the greatest danger”. Between 1942 and 1944, he worked from his base in Berlin and tried to prevent Jews from being saved – in Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia – countries which, despite being enslaved to Hitler, allowed the Jews to escape to the Land of Israel and other places.
"The Mufti protested to the Nazis that they
hadn’t provided enough resources to prevent the escape of the refugee
Jews from the Balkans. In his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials on
August 6, 1947, the German commander Wilhelm Melchers said, “The Mufti
made his protests known everywhere, in the Bureau of the Foreign
Minister and the State Minister and in other headquarters of the S.S.”
On May 13, 1943, for example, the Mufti submitted a letter to the Nazi
Foreign Minister Ribbentrop in which he objected to the understandings
Germany made which allowed for the deportation of 4,000 Jewish children
from Bulgaria. He asked to see, “everyone,” and I quote, “everyone wiped
out”.
"Eichmann’s deputy, Dieter Wisliceny, provided
the following chilling testimony at Nuremberg: “The Mufti played a role
in the decision to destroy the Jews of Europe. The importance of his
role cannot be ignored. The Mufti repeatedly proposed to the authorities
with whom he was in contact, first and foremost Hitler, Ribbentrop and
Himmler, to destroy the European Jews. He saw in that an appropriate
solution to the Palestinian question”. Wisliceny even provided hearsay
evidence that the Mufti was directly involved in the Final Solution.
“The Mufti was one of the initiators of the methodical destruction of
the Jews of Europe and was a partner and consultant to Eichmann and
Hitler on how to execute the plan. He was one of Eichmann’s best friends
and constantly pushed him to speed up the destruction. With my own
ears,” he said, “I heard him say that he visited the gas chambers of
Auschwitz anonymously in the company of Eichmann”.
The myth of Palestinian innocence
The myth of Palestinian innocence
Agree with you
ReplyDeleteIt can be stated as fact that the Israel-Arab conflict is really an continuation of WW2 with the Arabs being allied to the Axis who not only had a hand in the Holocaust and praise the Nazis / Hitler to this day (due to the West not holding the Arabs to account for their crimes), but also seek to "finish the job hitler started" (albeit with western support and heavy-lifting).
In such a light, it brings up some unpleasant implications as to what motivates western support for the arabs and the willingness to accept the pro-arab narrative on mere hearsay / outright lies (over the meticulous historical evidence that supports all Jewish claims), even at the expense of the Western World's own ailing economies.
Agree with you 100 percent
ReplyDeleteIt is important to keep in mind the historical background when bringing up the subject of "Arab" alliance with the Nazis.
ReplyDeleteDuring WWII not all Arab countries were on the same side: Libya was occupied by Mussolini's Italy, Tunisia Algeria, Morocco were occupied by Vichy France, and naturally the populations were anti-German and welcomed the Anglo-American landing during the war.
Sylvia, in Libya, during the German occupation, Arabs were encouraged to make a pogrom on the local Jews and did so. The Italians when they were in charge usually protected the Jews.
ReplyDeleteIn Morocco, Franco's govt in Spain had encouraged Arab nationalists in the Spanish zone of Morocco, such as Abdel-Khalek Torres [or Turris]. Franco was quite interested in forming an alliance with Arab nationalists. And that was true up to his death circa 1975. During the Vichy period, German agents were active among Arab nationalists in Morocco and found some sympathy.
The fact that Hitler's allies, fascist Italy and Franco Spain, controlled some territory in Arab lands did not deter sympathy for the Germans, especially since the Mufti was shilling for Hitler.
Here is a quote from Husseini's interview with Hitler in which Hitler promised him that the Final Solution would be extended to Jews in Arab lands. Also a video of Husseini in Berlin. See link:
http://ziontruth.blogspot.co.il/2011/11/seventy-years-since-arab-mufti-haj-amin.html
Pogroms against Jews were a fact of life independently of political alliances and they were not always an indicator of rational political thought. Attacks occurred when Jews were on the same side as the Muslim masses which was almost always.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that many nationalist leaders from NAfrican countries were in Egypt and were exposed to Husseini's ideas regarding the Jews. And there was also the fact that the French employed local police (the gendarmerie) who maintained the population in check (the movie "Casablanca" comes to mind).
As to Spanish Morocco, it was an entirely different game than in the interior. Franco climbed all the echelons of the Spanish military while in Morocco and prior to becoming a dictator, so I do no doubt for a moment that he made friends and allies among the local upper crust.
But Franco was also the one who fought the nationalist forces as a Spanish officer previously in the 1920s and he was surely remembered for that.
Another and no small detail was the fact that the Germans were allied to the Ottomans and Morocco was strongly suspicious of the Turks, in fact it was the only country in North Africa not occupied by the Turks.
That's for Morocco but if we examine facts and dates for the other NAfrican countries we'll find that it was not so simple.
Oh, and another very important fact was the British-US Operation Torch in 1942 that led to the surrender of the Vichysts and established a big army base in Port-Lyautey from which they led air operations against the Germans throughout the Maghreb.
There is no doubt that the Allies were very welcome by the nationalists and their victory was what led them to believe they could oust the French in all those countries.
The Americans never gave decent credit to the Algiers Underground --80% Jewish-- that gave the city of Algiers to them without the US troops having to fire a shot. [see book by Gitta Amipaz-Silber in Hebrew, French, or english]. German agents were active in Spanish & French zones of Morocco & Tangiers, winning hearts and minds.
ReplyDeleteSee, inter alia, Shlomo Ben Ami's book on Franco Spain in Hebrew.