Netanyahu, Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Recently there was too much fuss, when Netanyahu said that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was trying to persuade Hitler to kill European Jews instead of deporting them. The Arab Haj Amin al-Husseini was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during the Second World War. The Grand Mufti is the highest religious position that a Sunni Muslim can hold.
What Netanyahu said was true and I am surprised that there was so much fuss about it. And I want to explain why this is so, but unfortunately I need to say very few things about the background of the meeting between Adolf Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in November 1941.
Before World War 1 the Ottomans controlled most of the Middle East, and most specifically the regions which today are Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and a large part of Saudi Arabia too. The Ottomans were allies of Germany, and therefore the British allied with the Arabs against the Ottomans. The British promised the Arabs that if the Ottomans were defeated they would help them establish Arab states in the areas of the Middle East that were controlled by the Ottomans.
In exactly the same way the British asked the Jews for help, with the promise that they would help them establish a Jewish state in Palestine (Israel+Jordan). That was made with a formal declaration of Great Britain i.e. the Balfur Declaration. At the time Palestine (Israel+Jordan) was an underdeveloped region with less than 1 million inhabitants. For Palestine see the following map.
Map 1 Palestine
http://www.mythsandfacts.org/replyonlineedition/images/maps/1920-mandate_for_palestine.jpg
However after World War 1, the British established the Arab states of Iraq and Syria, but under Arab pressure they failed to do the same thing for the Jews and Palestine. To make things worse, the British gave the largest part of Palestine (Jordan) to their Arab allies, keeping what remained (Israel) under their control. That was the smallest part of Palestine, and almost all of its southern part was desert.
Map 2 The Partition of Palestine
http://www.mythsandfacts.org/media/user/images/1922-mandate_for_palestine.jpg
As a result the Arabs and the Jews started killing each other, while at the same time they were both attacking the British with terrorist attacks. The word “Palestinian” does not refer to Arabs. It refers to Palestinian Arabs, to Palestinian Jews, to Palestinian Christians etc. Unfortunately with their immense strength in media and politics the Arabs have managed to keep the word “Palestinian” only for them. Unfortunately oil can buy almost anything.
But let me continue with what Netanyahu said about Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Because of the situation I just described, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time, found in Hitler an ideal ally. What Netanyahu said is absolutely true. In the beginning, during the 1930’s and before the outbreak of World War II, Hitler preferred to deport the Jews of Germany rather than killing them. Hitler was afraid of the international outcry that would follow the mass killings of millions of people. And that is proved by Hitler’s policies. Hitler was stealing their money and then he was deporting the German Jews. He was not killing them.
At the time a Holocaust would be much more convenient for the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Arabs of Palestine than for Hitler himself. Many of the Jews that would be deported by Hitler would end up in Palestine fighting the Arabs. And that’s exactly what the Grand Mufti asked from Hitler. He asked Hitler to kill instead of deporting the Jews during their meeting in November 1941.
But of course that does not mean that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had the power to carry out the Holocaust if Hitler did not agree with him. But It DOES mean that the Grand Mufti was a more enthusiastic supporter of the Holocaust than Hitler himself. In January 1942 Hitler decided to go ahead with the Final Solution and the extermination of the European Jews. Note that the meeting of the Grand Mufti with Hitler in November 1941 was very close to Hitler’s decision for the Final Solution in January 1942. Hitler was conquering the whole of Europe, and he was finding again and again the Jews that he had been deporting. Moreover Hitler was himself afraid that if he was to keep deporting the Jews they would have no where else to go than Palestine, and Hitler would have to fight them during his war for the oil of the Middle East.
Therefore what Netanyahu says is a fact. The reason that historians have objections is because the Grand Mufti did not have the power to carry out the Holocaust. But Netanyahu did not say that he did. He simply said that the Grand Mufti was asking for the Holocaust before Hitler had taken his final decisions.
As far as Merkel is concerned, what could have she said? She could have not possibly agreed with Netanyahu, because that would cause Germany a great deal of troubles with the Muslims. She already has many problems with the Muslims. I do not think she needs anymore of it. She knows that what Netanyahu says is absolutely true, and she knows that the historical responsibility for the Holocaust belongs to Germany. That is not going to change because the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a more enthusiastic supporter of the Holocaust than Hitler himself.
I also want to say one more thing. Most people do not know that there was never an Arab state called Palestine. Palestine was part of various empires. I am saying that because the Islamist and socialist propaganda circulate a fake map of Palestine, which implies that Israel used to be an Arab Palestinian state, which was later stolen by the Jews.
Ma 3 The Fake Map of Palestine
As I said at the time Palestine was an underdeveloped region with less than 1 million people leaving there i.e. in Israel and Jordan. Gradually the Arabs and the Jews started sending people to Palestine in a race to gain control. Moreover Israel’s southern part is mainly a desert which had no inhabitants at all at the time. You can read about the propaganda about the map at the following Economist article, titled “This map is not the territories”, March 2010.
I must also say that after WWII the English did not keep their promises to the Jews, and after giving the largest part of Palestine (Jordan) to their Arab allies, they gave the best part of what remained (Israel) to the Arabs too. Actually it was not only the English who did that. It was the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947. After the partition the Jews started celebrating like crazy for their new state, while the Arabs launched a war against them, during which the Jews gained more territories.
Map 4 The Un Partition Plan of 1947
The truth is that the Arabs do not accept a Jewish state, and that’s why they never recognized Israel. All the rest is Islamist and socialist propaganda in Europe and the United States. The Islamist Arabs are more honest because they admit they want to kill all the Jews. The socialist Arabs are foxier, and even though they have exactly the same plans with the Islamists, they use various pretexts, in order to convince the public opinion in Europe and America. In that respect I consider the Islamist Arabs as less dangerous, because it is easier for European and American citizens to understand what the real problem is.
For the Economist article and the face map of Palestine see
“This map is not the territories”, March 2010
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/03/israel_and_palestine_0
