Comments Concerning the Speech of PM Netanyahu and Il Husseini (22 October 2015, 9 Cheshvan, 5776)
Contents:
Part One. Who Was to Blame?
1. Introduction: The Speech by Binyamin Netanyahu Blaming the Mufti
2. Brit-Am Historical Impressions of the Holocaust Implementation
Part Two. The Mufti and Hitler. A Collection of Sources. Extracts.
3. Who Was the Mufti?
The truth about Jerusalem's grand mufti, Hitler and the Holocaust
by Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman
4. Dr. Wolfgang G. Schwanitz: Mufti made pact with Hilter based on Extermination of Jews.
Mufti Advised Hitler on Holocaust, Says Middle East Forum Scholar
5. The Mufti Must Share Part of the Blame
Al-Husseini's Critical Role in Instigating the Holocaust By Hillel Fendel
6. Call for Annihilation of Jews
7. German Government Claims Blame
8. Mufti was a Friend of Eichman!
Netanyahu Under Fire for Telling Truth About Mufti's Role in Holocaust By PAMELA GELLER
9. Killing Jewish Children!
Hitler's Mufti By Matthew E. Bunson
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1. Introduction: The Speech by Binyamin Netanyahu Blaming the Mufti
In a speech to delegates at the 37th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem October 20, 2015, the PM of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu spoke of the Holocaust. He said that the religious leader of the Palestinians in the 1920s and 1930s, Haj Amin al-Husseini, known as the "Mufti" influenced Hitler.
'Palestinian mufti convinced Hitler to massacre Europe's Jews,' Netanyahu says
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Palestinian-mufti-convinced-Hitler-to-massacre-Europes-Jews-Netanyahu-says-427592
"My grandfather came to this land in 1920 and he landed in Jaffa, and very shortly after he landed he went to the immigration office in Jaffa," Netanyahu told delegates on Tuesday. "And a few months later it was burned down by marauders. These attackers, Arab attackers, murdered several Jews, including our celebrated writer [Yosef Haim] Brenner."
"And this attack and other attacks on the Jewish community in 1920, 1921, 1929, were instigated by a call of the mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was later sought for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials because he had a central role in fomenting the final solution," the premier said. "He flew to Berlin. Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here.' 'So what should I do with them?' he asked. He said, 'Burn them'."
The words of the PM have aroused considerable controversy.
He has been accused of diminishing the responsibility of Germany for what was done.
Our own opinion is given below along with excerpts from recent articles on the subject.
Media response has been largely very critical but we have chosen to quote from articles that do not nullify the PM's viewpoint since there is something to it.
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2. Brit-Am Historical Impressions of the Holocaust Implementation
This is not our field of study. We do however have an ongoing interest in the subject.
Here are our impressions.
The Germans wanted to exterminate the Jews. The desire to exterminate all the Jews was an important ongoing thread in German life. This does not mean that all Germans wanted this BUT there were many who did and these were respectable and powerful. The idea had existed for centuries and was promoted as desirable. It was not however unanimously accepted. Even those who thought along such lines often preferred not to know what was being done to actualize it.
Hitler was both a dictator and part of a team. The Nazi Government operated by stages and according to circumstance. It reacted as much as it lead.
Hitler may have been worse than Stalin but he was influenced more by those around him. He would try to extract a consensus of agreement before acting , at least at first.
The Mufti was NOT an outsider. He was part of the inner circle of Aryan Edomites.
They regarded the Jews as an element to be eliminated. Once the process began it was given priority. Before then they wished first to remove Jews from their immediate sphere. The emigration of Jews at first was welcomed or at least regarded as the best option possible in lieu of immediate extermination. Before Hitler and company had formally formulated their decision on the matter then different elements might make contrary decisions about it. This was the Nazi style. It was known as Anticipating Hitler. 80% of the Jews in Germany did manage to leave the country. Some went to neighboring areas such as France that were later conquered and were killed there. Others got away. Most of the Jewish casualties were inhabitants of lands that the Germans conquered later rather than of Germany itself. Even within Germany a Jew married to a German, or with a German parent, might have more chances of surviving than a similar case in an occupied country.
The Germans had been killing Jews BEFORE the Wannsee Conference of 1941 but until then it was not uniform policy of an obligatory nature.
The Wannsee Conference enabled the bureaucratic and logistic superstructure for extermination to be set in place.
To say that the Mufti persuaded Hitler to exterminate the Jews seems exaggerated BUT his pernicious influence did have an effect. The Mufti helped create the atmosphere and pressures that existed immediately prior to the decision.
The Germans did formally implement the policy of extermination but they had numerous assistants amongst other peoples in doing so.
The Germans were no more than the leaders in what must be considered a general war by Edomites and others against the Jews. This war is continuing though its form has changed.
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Part Two. The Mufti and Hitler. A Collection of Sources. Extracts.
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3. Who Was the Mufti?
The truth about Jerusalem's grand mufti, Hitler and the Holocaust
by Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman
http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/the_truth_about_jerusalems_grand_mufti_hitler_and_the_holocaust
Who was Haj Amin al-Husseini and what was his historical significance? A relative of Yasser Arafat as well as ally of Hassan al-Banna, originator of Hamas' parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Grand Mufti was a moving force behind Palestinian Jew hatred, from the riots of 1920 and 1929 through the 1936-1939 bloody Arab Uprising against the Holy Land's Jewish community, long before his WWII support of Nazi Germany.
According to Historian Robert Wistrich's Hitler and the Holocaust (2001), the Mufti escaped British scrutiny in Jerusalem after the war's outbreak for the more friendly confines of Berlin, where, in November, 1941, he had tea with Hitler who asked him 'to lock in the innermost depths of his heart' that he (Hitler) 'would carry on the battle to the total destruction of the Judeo-Communist Empire in Europe.'...
Il-Husayni sent Himmler birthday greetings on October 6 [1943], and expressed the hope that 'the coming year would make our cooperation even closer and bring us closer to our common goals.' The Grand Mufti also helped organize a Muslim Waffen SS Battalion, known as the Hanjars, that slaughtered ninety percent of Bosnia's Jews, and were dispatched to Croatia and Hungary. The Mufti also made broadcasts to the Middle East urging Arabs and Muslims to honor Allah by implementing their own Final Solution.
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4. Dr. Wolfgang G. Schwanitz: Mufti made pact with Hilter based on Extermination of Jews.
Mufti Advised Hitler on Holocaust, Says Middle East Forum Scholar
October 21, 2015
http://www.meforum.org/5574/schwanitz-husaini
Noted Middle East Forum scholar Dr. Wolfgang G. Schwanitz responds to criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schwanitz, a leading expert on ties between Nazis and Islamists, says al-Hajj Amin al-Husaini was instrumental in the decision to exterminate the Jews of Europe.
"The Mufti of Jerusalem al-Hajj Amin al-Husaini was a war criminal whose collaboration with Adolf Hitler played a key role in the Holocaust," says noted Middle East Forum scholar Dr. Wolfgang G. Schwanitz.
Philadelphia, PA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn criticism for comments about the role of al-Hajj Amin al-Husaini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in conceiving and perpetrating the Holocaust. Indeed, leading Nazi aides testified that al-Husaini was one of the instigators of the genocide. In his 1999 autobiography, a senior Nazi official admitted how he advised Hitler and other leading Nazis, and that he acquired full knowledge of the ongoing mass murder.
Middle East Forum scholar, historian, and author Wolfgang G. Schwanitz added, "It is a historical fact that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Hajj Amin al-Husaini was an accomplice whose collaboration with Adolf Hitler played an important role in the Holocaust. He was the foremost extra-European adviser in the process to destroy the Jews of Europe."
In their 2014 book Nazis, Islamists and the Making of the Modern Middle East, published by Yale University Press, Schwanitz and co-author Barry Rubin delve into the deep ties between Hitler and the Grand Mufti:
At their meeting [on November 28, 1941, Hitler and al-Husaini] concluded the pact of Jewish genocide in Europe and the Middle East, and immediately afterward, Hitler gave the order to prepare for the Holocaust. The next day invitations went out to thirteen Nazis for the Wannsee Conference to begin organizing the logistics of this mass murder.
The highly acclaimed book also examined the Grand Mufti's efforts to prevent Europe's Jews from finding refuge in the land that would become Israel:
And since any European Jews let out of Europe might later go to Palestine, al-Husaini made it clear that if Hitler wanted Muslims and Arabs as allies he must close Europe's exits to Jews. At the same time, al-Husaini and Arab rulers also told Britain that if it wanted to keep Arabs and Muslims from being enemies, it must close entrance to Palestine to all Jews. By succeeding on both fronts, al-Husaini contributed to the Holocaust doubly, directly, and from the start.
About the Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, is dedicated to defining American interests in the Middle East and protecting America from Islamist threats. It achieves its goals through intellectual, activist, and philanthropic efforts. For more information, visit http://www.meforum.org.
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5. The Mufti Must Share Part of the Blame
Al-Husseini's Critical Role in Instigating the Holocaust
By Hillel Fendel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/202249#.Vih_fn4rK70
Speaking to the 37th Zionist Congress in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu wished to show that the desire to kill Jews among Palestinian Arabs did not begin today. Netanyahu told the Zionist Congress that attacks on Jews in the 1920's "were instigated by a call of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was later sought for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials because he had a central role in fomenting the final solution."
Netanyahu said that Hitler didn't yet want to exterminate the Jews, but wished rather to expel them but "al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here [to the Land of Israel.' "So what should I do with them?" he asked. He said, `Burn them.` And he was sought during the Nuremberg trials for prosecution."
Coincidentally, MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) publicized just today remarks by a leading Islamist cleric on the official TV station of Hamas, in which he said that Hamas would "not leave a single Jew, dead or alive... on the land of Islam and the Muslims."
Netanyahu quoted the testimony of Adolf Eichmann's deputy at the Nuremberg trials after World War II, who said: "The Mufti was instrumental in the decision to exterminate the Jews of Europe. The importance of his role must not be ignored. The Mufti repeatedly proposed to the authorities, primarily Hitler, Ribbentropp and Himmler, to exterminate the Jews of Europe. He considered it a suitable solution for the Palestinian question."
Eichmann's deputy also said: "The Mufti was one of the instigators of the systematic extermination of European Jewry, and was a partner and advisor to Eichmann and Hitler in carrying out this plan."
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6. Call for Annihilation of Jews
After the Mufti arrived in Germany, he became heavily involved in German propaganda broadcasts to Arab nations. Jeffrey Herf documents one such broadcast where the Germans explicitly called on Arabs to murder their Jewish neighbors - way beyond the propaganda that they broadcast to the West. While we don't know if the Mufti was directly involved in this particular broadcast, his arrival changed the nature of the German Arabic propaganda to combine Nazi and Quranic antisemitism:
From the Voice of Free Arabism, At 8:15 p.m. on July 7, 1942:
'In the face of this barbaric procedure by the British we think it best, if the life of the Egyptian nation is to be saved, that the Egyptians rise as one man to kill the Jews before they have a chance of betraying the Egyptian people. It is the duty of the Egyptians to annihilate the Jews and to destroy their property. 'You must kill the Jews, before they open fire on you. Kill the Jews, who have appropriated your wealth and who are plotting against your security. Arabs of Syria, Iraq, and Palestine, what are you waiting for? The Jews are planning to violate your women, to kill your children and to destroy you. According to the Muslim religion, the defense of your life is a duty which can only be fulfilled by annihilating the Jews. This is your best opportunity to get rid of this dirty race, which has usurped your rights and brought misfortune and destruction on your countries. Kill the Jews, burn their property, destroy their stores, annihilate these base supportersof British imperialism. Your sole hope of salvation lies in annihilating the Jews before they annihilate you.'
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7. German Government Claims Blame
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.681679
REUTERS - The German government said on Wednesday that responsibility for the Holocaust lay with the Germans, after Israel's prime minister sparked controversy before a visit to Berlin by saying a Muslim elder had convinced Adolf Hitler to exterminate Jews.
"All Germans know the history of the murderous race mania of the Nazis that led to the break with civilization that was the Holocaust," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said when asked about Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks.
"This is taught in German schools for good reason, it must never be forgotten. And I see no reason to change our view of history in any way. We know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own."
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8. Mufti was a Friend of Eichman!
Netanyahu Under Fire for Telling Truth About Mufti's Role in Holocaust
By PAMELA GELLER
- See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2015/10/netanyahu-under-fire-for-telling-truth-about-muftis-role-in-holocaust.html/#sthash.V6J09rpA.dpuf
http://pamelageller.com/2015/10/netanyahu-under-fire-for-telling-truth-about-muftis-role-in-holocaust.html/
Here at Atlas I have been calling attention to this for years. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dieter Wisliceny, a close collaborator of Adolf Eichmann, testified that, the grand mufti, who had been in Berlin since 1938, played a role in the decision of the German government to exterminate the European Jews the importance of which must not be disregarded. He had repeatedly suggested to the various authorities with whom he had been in contact, above all before Hitler, Ribbentrop and Himmler, the extermination of European jury. He considers this as a comfortable solution of the Palestine problem. In his messages broadcast from Berlin, he surpassed us in anti-Jewish attacks. He was one of Eichmann's best friends and has constantly been cited him to accelerate the extermination measures. I heard say that, accompanied by Eichmann, he has visited incognito the gas chamber it Auschwitz. The statement referred to in the affidavit was made by Eichmann in his office in Budapest on June 4, 1944; the confirmation by Wisliceny was given some days later also in Budapest.
Further, according to testimony at the Nurenberg trials, '[T]he mufti was a bitter arch enemy of the Jews and had always been the protagonist of the idea of their annihilation. This idea the mufti had always advanced in his conversations with Eichmann.'
Here is a letter from the Mufti to Ribbentrop, urging that Jews not be deported to Palestine, just as Netanyahu said:
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9. Killing Jewish Children!
Hitler's Mufti By: Matthew E. Bunson
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/hitlers-mufti
The Axis' Kept Man
In late 1942, Heinrich Himmler gave his permission for 10,000 Jewish children to be transferred from Poland to Theresienstadt with the eventual aim of allowing them to go to Palestine in exchange for German civilian prisoners, through the International Red Cross. The plan was abandoned, however, because of the protests of the Grand Mufti.
The following year, al-Husseini blocked the emigration of 4,000 Jewish children and 500 accompanying adults to Palestine that was proposed by the governments of Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. The children were sent instead to the gas chambers.
For the Nazis, al-Husseini was an ideal propaganda tool, a powerful spokesman among radical Arabs, and an excellent instrument for their anti-Jewish campaign in Europe and in the Holy Land. Portrayed by the Nazis as the spiritual leader of all Islam, al-Husseini was given a grand formal welcome in Berlin. The official Nazi newspaper,Volkischer Beobachter, proudly published a photo of Hitler and al-Husseini, and Radio Berlin proclaimed on January 8, 1942 that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had consented to take part in the effort against the British, the Communists, and the Jews.
Satisfied with his newly concretized relations with the Nazis, al-Husseini chose to remain in the service of the Axis and settled in Berlin in a lavish mansion that had been confiscated from a Jewish family. The Nazis paid him a monthly stipend of 62,500 Reichsmarks (approximately 20,000 dollars), payments that continued until April 1945, when only the fall of Berlin to the Red Army ended Hitler's financial support. From his post, al-Husseini headed the Nazi-Arab Cooperation Section and helped build a network of German spies across the Middle East through his followers. Scheming for a desired dark future of Nazi-Islamic leadership, the Mufti founded an Islamic Institute in Dresden to provide training for young radical Muslims who would serve as chaplains for his field units and also head out across the Middle East and the world to sow the seeds of jihadism and anti-Semitism.
Scholars have long studied how actively engaged al-Husseini was in the implementation of the Holocaust. There is no question that he supported the aims of the Nazis in perpetrating genocide and believed perversely that all Arabs should join that cause. He declared on German radio on March 1, 1944: "Arabs, rise as one man and fight for your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. This pleases God, history, and religion. This saves your honor. God is with you" (qtd. in Norman Stillman, "Jews of the Arab World between European Colonialism, Zionism, and Arab Nationalism" in Judaism and Islam: Boundaries, Communications, and Interaction: Essays in Honor of William M. Brinner).
According to the testimony of Adolf Eichmann's chief deputy Dieter Wisliceny (who was hanged for war crimes) the Mufti played a role in encouraging the Final Solution and was a close friend and advisor to Eichmann in the Holocaust's implementation across Europe. Wisliceny testified further that al-Husseini had a close association with Heinrich Himmler and visited the gas chambers at Auschwitz, where he exhorted the staff to be even more dedicated in its important work.
To assist the practical slaughter of Jews and Christians, al-Husseini built an army of Muslim volunteer units for the Waffen-SS (the combat units of the dread SS) to operate for the Nazi cause in the Balkans. While the appeal for volunteers from among Muslims always struggled to meet the demands for new recruits, al-Husseini was able to organize three divisions of Bosnian Muslims who were then trained as elements of the Waffen-SS. The largest radical Muslim unit was the 13th Waffen-SS Handzar ("Dagger") division that boasted over 21,000 men. They were joined by the Bosnian 23rd Waffen-SS Kama Division and the Albanian Skanderbeg 21st Waffen-SS Division. The Muslim-Waffen-SS forces fought across the Balkans against Communist partisans and then assisted in the genocide of Yugoslavian Jews and in the persecution and slaughter of Gypsies and Christian Serbs in 1944 and 1945. The brutality extended to Catholics as well, for the Muslim-Waffen-SS cut a path of destruction across the Balkans that encompassed a large number of Catholic parishes, churches, and shrines and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Catholics. By the end of the war, al-Husseini's fanatical soldiers had killed over 90 percent of the Jews in Bosnia.