User:Kriegman/drafts

An example of the influence of the quotation

CAMERA American Bar Association Journal Libels Israel December 8, 2000 by Alex Safian:

The primary Palestinian leader spoke similarly. Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, declared through his spokesman that the Arabs’ goal was “the elimination of the Jewish state.” (Collins, p 400). Husseini also instructed his followers, “I declare a holy war, my Muslim brothers! Murder the Jews, murder them all.”

Is Yad Vashem scholarly enough?

On a panel in the Yad Vashem (Museum of the Shoa), which can be viewed here, it is written:

He [the Mufti] conducted a vicious propaganda campaign against the Allies and especially against the Jews on Arabic broadcast over German radio, calling upon Arabic and Muslims to slaughter the Jews wherever they might be.

A response to "He didn't speak like that"

Evidence that the Mufti "spoke like that" (the actual quote is here and here is some documentation of the claim that the Mufti promoted the murder of the Jews, not just their removal from Palestine) from The Mufti of Jerusalem by Maurice Pearlman. The Israelis knew about these broadcasts (well documented and Pearlman's book was published in 1947).

Implications of the quotations from the German broadcasts

Knowledge of these broadcasts was widespread in Israel (according to innumerable sources), but this is the first time I was actually able to find documentation of his specific words and when he said them. We could substitute the Myths and Facts quote for this one. This is just as highly relevant to the article as a leader of a significant, known segment of the Palestinian forces who was involved in much of the highest planning among the Palestinians and their allied nations during the 1948 War and had the highest religious title (even if manufactured) was known to have been a Nazi collaborator who actively worked for and specifically called for the extermination of the Jews.

And another source documenting the radio broadcast calls for extermination, from The Mufti and the Fuehrer by Joseph Schachtman. All of this was well known by the Jews of the 1948 War as such acts lead to the Mufti being considered a war criminal. Indeed, he was believed (in 1948) to have been actively involved with top level Nazis, including Eichmann, according to affidavits prepared for the Nuremberg Trials in 1946.

In addition to the quotation (somewhere above) from the Mufti's own memoirs (which I wasn't able to verify) in which he extracted a promise from the Germans to allow the Palestinians to exterminate the Jews:

Evidence introduced at the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem indicates however that the Mufti and Eichmann were close and that the Mufti was an important role in instigating the Holocaust, according to second hand testimony of Steiner regarding Dieter Wisliceny, Eichmann's deputy for Slovakia and Hungary:

"State Attorney Bach: This is our document No. 281. Mr. Steiner first tells us that Wisliceny described his talks with Eichmann, why Palestine cannot be considered as the destination for emigration: "When I asked him why, he laughed and asked whether I had never heard of the Grand Mufti Husseini. He explained that the Mufti has very close contact and cooperation with Eichmann, and therefore Germany cannot agree to Palestine being the final destination, as this would be a blow to Germany's prestige in the Mufti's eyes."

Then he goes on: "At this further conversation Wisliceny gave me more details about the cooperation between Eichmann and the Mufti. The Mufti is a sworn enemy of the Jews and has always fought for the idea of annihilating the Jews. He sticks to this idea always, also in his talks with Eichmann" - and here we have one of the points about which Wisliceny has reservations - "who, as you know, is a German who was born in Palestine. The Mufti is one of the originators of the systematic destruction of European Jewry by the Germans, and he has become a permanent colleague, partner and adviser to Eichmann and Himmler in the implementation of this programme."

Here Wisliceny adds: "I have read these descriptions and find them correct, except for this, that Eichmann was born in Palestine, and that the Mufti was a permanent partner of Himmler's; this is not what I said."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/1117."

Web source: http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-050-07.html

At the Nuremberg Trials in July 1946, Wisliceny testified:

"The Mufti was one of the initiators of the systematic extermination of European Jewry and had been a collaborator and adviser of Eichmann and Himmler in the execution of this plan... He was one of Eichmann's best friends and had constantly incited him to accelerate the extermination measures. I heard him say, accompanied by Eichmann, he had visited incognito the gas chamber of Auschwitz."

Of course, Eichmann and the Mufti denied this. But in a broadcast from Germany, the Mufti made a reference to the 11 million Jews in the world. It was thought this was a slip of the tongue as everyone knew there were 17 million Jews. However, as a confidante/collaborator of Himmler and Eichmann, the Mufti had detailed knowledge of the extent of the Holocaust.