Shakib Arslan
Shakib Arslan (Arabic: شكيب أرسلان,Turkish: Şekîb b. Hammûd b. Hasen el-Arslânî, 25 December 1869 – 9 December 1946) (Abou Ghaleb) was a former Druse notable, prince (amir) in Lebanon, who left his community and clung to fascism,[1] allied,[2] propagated for Hitler, tight with the Mufti Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini, Jamal Husseini and other ieaders in Arab Mandatory Palestine. He was a who was known as Amir al-Bayān (Arabic for "Prince of Eloquence") because in addition to being a politician, he was also an influential pan-Arabist, pan-Islamist writer, poet and historian an author, he penned some 20 books and 2,000 articles.
One of the Druze families who converted to Islam, Arslan was one of the pillars of the all-Arab and all-Muslim movement in Syria. He provoked anger from Christians.[3] Explains a writer who met him:
| “ | He excited the believers to envy the zeal of Islam and provoked the anger of the Christians. In his many articles and speeches, the emir proved that the Arabs are loyal to the Turkish caliph dynasty and honor them over the Umms, the Abbasids and the Fatimids. He wasn't just all talk. At the head of a Druze battalion, the Emir marched to Egypt at the beginning of the First War to conquer the Suez and return the Nile Valley to the Sultan of Kushta.
Shakib Arslan then miraculously lifted Syria's loyalty to the Ottoman crown. The Arabs welcomed Sharif Feisal Bin Hussein and all his plans in favor of the rebellion (in Turkey) found no echo in Damascus or in Aram Tzoba (Aleppo). The Arabs remained loyal to Kalif until the last moment... Shakib Arslan, who sat in Geneva in those days and conducted his propaganda in favor of the Arabs, is the one who rained fire and brimstone on the Zionists and England. He claimed that neither the former nor the latter have rights over Palestine. The Druze forgot the peace treaty, made between the tribesmen of his tribe and the Jews of Metula, in his position and influence. And it wasn't in that alliance that the Israelis' rights in their homeland were already recognized...[3] |
” |
At that time, the Arab movement leaned towards the fascist forces in Europe, which became very strong when the Nazis seized power in Germany. The main fascist-Nazi Arab agent was the Druze emir Shakib Arslan, who left his narrow religious sect and joined the pan-Arab Syrian "Istiqlal" movement in 1919/20, and since then his close relations with Arab leaders in the Land of Israel and especially with the Husseinis have persisted.
Many believed that Arslan was in fact the Mufti’s main advisor.[4]
Arslan was also close to Mohamed Ali Eltaher, a Mufti's apologist.[5]
He was one of the key figures of Arab nationalist thought and pan-Arab and - Muslim activism in the interwar period. [6] Or "arguably one of the most prominent all-regional Islamic-Arab public opinion shapers in the interwar period."[7]
The Mufti's agent in Geneva and his hand in fascist Italy since the 1930s. Documented:[8][9]
The Mufti of Jerusalem through his agent in Geneva, Emir Shekib Arslan, was in contact with Mussolini years before the war. Some of their intercepted correspondence was published as early as 1935 in Arab papers opposed to the Mufti.
Arslan's great impact in fascist Italy hold in Africa. Historian:[10]
| “ | Much more important was the work by the Lebanese Druze, Amir Shakib Arslan Arslan was by far the most important figure in the context of Mussolini's influence in the whole Middle Eastern arena. He undertook to spread the world of the Duce, and to exploit the Abyssinian crisis in order to inspire the younger generation in the Middle East to revolt against the French and the British . He hoped that such an uprising would enhance pan-Arabism, especially his brand, namely Arabism with a strong element of Islamic identity and solidarity . In the dozens of articles published in 1935, Arslan depicted Ethiopia as a historical enemy of Islam, an oppressor of its own Muslims, an enemy of the Arabic language and Arab culture . A skilled historian, he combined the negative messages of radical Islam with the modern messages of fascist propaganda. Most of Arslan's work was published primarily in Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian papers; nevertheless, he had his share in the Egyptian press and was widely read in Egypt. | ” |
Arslan had a personal friendship that with Benito Mussolini since 1921.[11]
In April 1935, around the time of Arslan's pro Fascist Italy propaganda among the Arabs, Rumors close to the truth tell of Nazi cells existing among the Arabs, which are currently working to expand the anti-Jewish and even anti-English action, and perhaps also against the interests of other powers.[12]
Arslan was involved in the Arabic translation of Mein Kampf in 1938.[13][14]
After heading a Syrian nationalist propaganda service in Geneva for a few years, and after refusing at first, finally in October 1939, it was reported that Hitler granted Arslan a so-called "honorary aryan" status.[15]
He dwelled (at least early on) around the delusional story that the Arabs preceded Christopher Columbus, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. [16]
Contents
Pan Islamist: from pro-Ottoman to Pan-Arabism
Shakib Arslan: an Ottoman parliamentarian and later Arab nationalist who was close to Cemal Pasha during the war.[17]
"He seems to be more Moslem than the Caliph." Christians voiced referring to Arslan's piece published on Aug 14, 1914.[18]
An ardent pan-Islamist wanted to bring together in an alliance. [19]
During World War I, the Spanish zone in Northern Morocco was utilized to foment hostilities against the French forces. In addition, the Teskilat-i Mahsusa (Ottoman Empire) TM formed volunteer units such as the Druze Voluntary Detachment led by Amir Shakib Arslan (1869-1946) with 110 men recruited from Mount Lebanon who were attached to the Hejaz Campaign Force.[20] A "die-hard Ottoman loyalist, the Druze Emir Shakib Arslan, raised a small force of Druze warriors at his own expense."[21][22][3]
While always an ardent pan-Islamist throughout, post--World War I, he changed his pro Ottoman activism to that of a Champion of Pan-Arabism.
| “ | Post--World War I: A Champion of Pan-Arabism
Until the abolition of the Caliphate by Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), Arslan lingered in Europe and Turkey hoping for the restoration of the Ottoman Empire. After it became apparent that this goal was unattainable, he refocused his activism to a more pressing matter, namely the French and the British domination and partition of the Arab world. Arslan however, was greatly ostracized from the ranks of the Arab nationalists he had formerly opposed. His transition into the ranks of the nationalists was made possible through the good offices of his close friend Rashid Rida, the renowned publisher of al-Manar. Rida was aware of his friend’s talents and thus brought him into the fold of the Arab cause. Arslan was quite successful in his new post as the head of the permanent delegation of the Syrian-Palestinian Congress to the League of Nations in Geneva. Through this delegation, Arslan and his companions were able to lobby for the demands of the so-called Arab Nation, such issues as the Great Syrian Revolt, and more importantly the question of Palestine. It was through the delegation’s publication Le Nation Arabe that Arslan bombarded European policy-makers as well as the general public with the demands of his political camp. While Arslan tried to be as diverse as possible in the articles he published in his journal and other prominent publications such as al-Manar, the Palestinian issue occupied a major share of his writings. This was mainly due to the fact that Arslan was a close ally of the Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husayni (1895-1974); indeed, many believed that Arslan was in fact the Mufti’s main advisor. [4] |
” |
In Switzerland since September 1925.[23] There he has his La Nation Arabe[24] out, widely read.
Islamische Kulturbund
The Islamische Kulturbund or Islamic Cultural Association (Rābiţat at-Taqāfa al-İslāmīya) has been founded in Vienna in 1932 on the initiative of Arslan.[25][26]
The Islamische Kulturbund existed in Vienna till 1939. It was dissolved, and an association called Islamische Gemeinschaft zu Wien was registered, Nazi supported.[27][28]
1937 Bloudan Conference
The Sep 1937 Pan-Arab Bloudan Conference, attended by over 400 Arabs, was chaired by Naji al-Suwaidi, the former prime minister of Iraq, and vice-chaired by intellectual Shakib Arslan, former education minister Mohammed Alluba Pasha of Egypt and Ali Hurayki. Syria was the most represented in the conference with 115 delegates. Arab Palestine was represented by 97 delegates, Lebanon by 59 and led by Riad al-Solh, Transjordan by 29, Iraq by 9, Egypt by 2 and Tripolitania by 1. In a sign of further pan-Arab support for the conference, solidarity messages and telegrams were sent by Ahmad al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait and by Islamic-oriented groups from several Egyptian cities and towns, as well as from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
After the official conference in Bloudan, a largely secret meeting was held in Damascus by more activist delegates called the Conference of Nationalist Youth. The meeting called for stronger action to unite Arab youth and preparatory committee was established to organize a second, larger conference to be held in Europe. Participants included Yunus al-Sab'awi, Kazem al-Solh, Taqi al-Din Solh, Farid Zayn al-Din, Wasfi Kamal, Munir al-Rayyes, Uthman al-Hawrani, Farhan Shubaylat, Akram Zuaiter and Sabri al-Asali.[29]
A venomous brochure, dubbed the Arab Nein Kampf[30] was distributed at the Bludan conference, entitled "Islam and Jewry." It has been described as history's "first text that propagated sheer Jew-hatred in an Islamic context by mixing selected anti-Jewish episodes of Mohammed’s life with the so-called wickedness [sic] of Jews in the 20th century."[31] Ahmad Shukeiri also helped spread his message which he described as a European Crusade against Islam, and declared that the Arab people would rise and fight world Jewry...[32] At that conference the Mufti was elected pan Arab president. The brochure has been translated into German in 1938,[33] It was also translated into Croatian during World War II and distributed to the Bosnian Muslim SS soldiers - the SS Division. The 13th mountain "Handschar".[30]
Overview on Arslan pro-Nazi
Arslan "had been in contact with the German authorities in the Foreign Office and would remain so throughout the war, trying to influence Berlin's policies toward the Islamic world."[34]
Most Druze did not chose his twisted pro-Nazi path. [35]
Barid Al Sharq
Barid Al Sharq (Bareed al-Shark [بريد الشرق]: Orient Post) was an Arabic Nazi propaganda publication published Bi-weekly[36] in Berlin, in the period 1939–1944. It was distributed in the Arab countries and Mandatory Palestine. "Articles in Barid al-Sharq, dominated by the usual anti-British, anti-Communist, and anti-Jewish agitation, also drew on religious themes... Contributors included the Lebanese pan-Islamist Shakib Arslan and Abdurreshid Ibrahim, who, after his service for Germany during the First World War, had now become imam of the Tokyo Mosque, giving the paper a further pan-Islamic tinge." The journal also published several speeches by members of the Nazi elite, by al-Husayni (including his calls for Jihad).
Johann Von Leers also published articles in Barid al-Sharq.[37]
Its editors also published an Arabic- language brochure with the title Islam and the Jews (al-Islam wa-l-Yahud), based on a series of articles that the journal had run earlier under the same title. Numerous copies were distributed in Tunis. In spring 1942, the German consulate in Tangier reported the "confiscation" of several boxes of the brochure by Spanish officials. Files stored in the archives of the Foreign Office in Berlin indicate that the distribution of Barid al-Sharq in the Tangier zone repeatedly caused friction between German officials and the local Spanish administration during the North African campaign. [38] Nazi propagandist on the Radio, Yunus Bahri, also contributed, edited there.[24]
Al-Jaheer [وبالمقابل] (Bass) was a monthly magazine published by the Arabic section of Radio Berlin. It was addressed to the same readers of the "Barid al-Sharq" who had to be persuaded to be hostile to the Anglo-Saxons, the Communists and the Jews. The magazine sought to bring the sympathy of these readers towards Germany, which is intended to be shown as a great power advocating Islam and Muslims.[39]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Asaf, Michael. The history of the awakening of the Arabs in Palestine and their escape [תולדות התעוררות הערבים בארץ־ישראל ובריחתם]. Israel: Publisher Culture and Education: in collaboration with Davar Publishing House, 1967. p. 129.
בתקופה ההיא נטתה התנועה הערבית אל הכוחות הפאשיסטיים באירופה, שהתחזקו מאוד עם תפוס הנאצים את השלטון בגרמניה. הסוכן הערבי הפאשיסטי-נאצי הראשי היה האמיר הדרוזי שכיב ארסלאן, שעזב את עדתו הדתית הצרה והצטרף ב־1919/ 20 לתנועת ה"איסתיקלאל" הסורית הפאן-ערבית, ומאז התמידו יחסיו ההדוקים עם מנהיגים ערבים בארץ-ישראל וביחוד עם החוסיינים.
- ↑ Elst, Koenraad. Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar. India: Voice of India, 1993. p. 353.
Young Fidel Castro would imitate Mussolini in front of the mirror. The secularist Baath Party in Syria and Iraq was modelled on Mussolini's Fascist Party. The Iranian Shah Reza Pahlevi was an open admirer of Hitler (for which he was forced by the British to abdicate in favour of his son)... The Muslims in particular were enthusiastic... Muslim nations rallied to ally with Hitler: the Bosnian Muslims, the Kalmuks, the Chechen and Ingosh, the Balkans, the Meshkets, and the Krim Tatars. In West Asia, prominant leaders like the Druze leader Shakib Arslan (Walid Jumblatt's father) and the Mufti of Jerusalem allied themselves with Hitler.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hed HaMizrah - הד המזרח, 1 April 1949, p. 11.
בית אהרונסון והדרוזים
מאת ד"ר י. הרוזן
(שנה למותו של המפקד :אלכסנדר אהרונסון ז"ל)
האמיר שכיב ארסלן, שנמנה על משפחות הדרוזים שנתאסלמו, היה גם אחד מעמודי התווך של התנועה הכל־ערבית והכל מוסלמית בסוריה. הוא הלהיב את המאמינים לקנא את קנאת האיסלאם ועורר את חמת הנוצרים. במאמריו ובנאומיו הרבים, הוכיח האמיר, כי , הערבים הם נאמנים לשושלת הכליפים התורכים ומבכרים אותם על פני האומים, העבאסים והפטימים (ר' מאמרו בOrient- של 5 באוקטובר .(197והאציל הדרוזי לא נשאר רק נאה דורש. בראש גדוד דרוזי , צעד האמיר למצרים בראשית המלחמה הראשונה כדי לכבוש את הסואץ ולהחזיר את עמק הנילוס לסולטן בקושטא.
שכיב ארסלן הרים אז על נס את נאמנותה של סוריה לכתר עותמן. ערביה השיבו ריקם את פני השריף פיצל בן חוסיין וכל תכניותיו לטובת המרד )בתורכיה) לא מצאו הד בדמשק או בארם צובא. הערבים נשארו נאמנים לכליף עד הרגע האחרון...
שכיב ארסלן, שישב בימים ההם בג'ניבה ונהל את תעמולתו לטובת הערבים, הוא המטיר אש וגפרית על הציונים ועל אנגליה. הוא טען כי לא לראשונים ולא לאחרונים אין זכויות על פלשטינה. שכח הדרוזי את ברית השלום, שנכרתה בין בני שבטו ובין יהודי מטולה, במעמדו ובהשפעתו. והלא באותה ברית כבר הוכרו זכויות הישראלים במולדתם...
Emir Shakib Arslan, who was one of the Druze families who converted to Islam, was also one of the pillars of the all-Arab and all-Muslim movement in Syria. He excited the believers to envy the zeal of Islam and provoked the anger of the Christians. In his many articles and speeches, the emir proved that the Arabs are loyal to the Turkish caliph dynasty and honor them over the Umms, the Abbasids and the Fatimids (cf. his article in the Orient..) He wasn't just all talk. At the head of a Druze battalion, the Emir marched to Egypt at the beginning of the First War to conquer the Suez and return the Nile Valley to the Sultan of Kushta.
Shakib Arslan then miraculously lifted Syria's loyalty to the Ottoman crown. The Arabs welcomed Sharif Feisal Bin Hussein and all his plans in favor of the rebellion (in Turkey) found no echo in Damascus or in Aram Tzoba (Aleppo). The Arabs remained loyal to Kalif until the last moment...
Shakib Arslan, who sat in Geneva in those days and conducted his propaganda in favor of the Arabs, is the one who rained fire and brimstone on the Zionists and England. He claimed that neither the former nor the latter have rights over Palestine. The Druze forgot the peace treaty, made between the tribesmen of his tribe and the Jews of Metula, in his position and influence. And it wasn't in that alliance that the Israelis' rights in their homeland were already recognized...
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 M. Rabbah, Arslān, Shakīb, Amīr, Apr 10, 2018.
- ↑ White Washing and sugarcoating: Arab biographer, Mohammed El Taher and the Mufti, DP, Dec 3, 2021.
- ↑ Wien, Peter. Arab Nationalism: The Politics of History and Culture in the Modern Middle East. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2017.
p. 63.
As seen, Shakib Arslan, one of the key figures of Arab nationalist thought and pan-Arab and -Muslim activism in the interwar period, published his book al-Hulal al-sundusiyya only a few years later and dedicated it to "paradise lost."
- ↑ Erlikh, Hagai. The Cross and the River: Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Nile. United Kingdom: L. Rienner, 2002. 28. arguably one of the most prominent all-regional Islamic-Arab public opinion shapers in the interwar period...
- ↑ The Arab War Effort: A Documented Account. United States: American Christian Palestine committee, 1946, p. 6. [1].
- ↑ Rolbant, Samuel. The Arabs: Politics and People. United Kingdom: Amal Publications, 1948, p. 25. [2].
- ↑ The Nile: Histories, Cultures, Myths. United Kingdom: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, p.194.
- ↑ Germain, Eric., Clayer, Nathalie. Islam in Inter-war Europe. United Kingdom: Hurst, 2008, p.227.
In Italy, the interest in Islam was asserted earlier on with the personal friendship that existed between Benito Mussolini and Shakib Arslan from 1921.
- ↑ Ha-Yarden - הירדן, 25 April 1935.
התעמולה הפרו־איטלקית בין הערבים על מכתבו של האמיר שאקיב ארסלאן מאת א. אבידן שמועות הקרובות לאמת מספרות על תאים נאצים הקימים בין הערבים, הפועלים כיום לשם הרחבת הפעולה האנטי יהודית ואף האנטי אנגלית, ואולי גם נגד האינטרסים של מעצמות אחרות. The pro-Italian propaganda among the Arabs On the letter of Emir Shakib Arslan By A. Avidan
Rumors close to the truth tell of Nazi cells existing among the Arabs, which are currently working to expand the anti-Jewish and even anti-English action, and perhaps also against the interests of other powers. - ↑ Hagay Hacohen, Arabic translation of ‘Mein Kampf’ sold in Israel, JPost, Oct 22, 2019.
The history of how the German publication ended up in Arabic is a fascinating one. After several false starts that contained mistakes such as Hitler stating he "became a socialist" and not a nationalist, the job fell to Shakib Arslan who used a French translation.
- ↑ Borders, Boundaries and Belonging in Post-Ottoman Space in the Interwar Period. Netherlands: Brill, 2022. p. 143.
In 1938, the Arab nationalist and Nazi interlocutor Shakib Arslan, at the time in exile in Geneva, recommended al-'Urabi to the foreign office's Middle East division and the propaganda ministry as a possible translator...
- ↑ The Palestine Post, 16 October 1939.
EMIR SHAKIB ARSLAN AN "HONORARY GERMAN "
BEIRUT . — A full account has now appeared in the local of press of the visit paid to Germany by the Emir Shakib Arslan, who for the past few years has headed a Syrian nationalist propaganda service in Geneva. The visit was described by the German broadcasting stations as evidence of Arab sympathy for Germany.
According to reliable Swiss newspaper reports quoted in the local presa the Emir met only some of the minor Nazi leaders. It is reported that Hitler at first refused to authorise the grant to him of the honorary German citzenship on the grounds that he was a Semite. In Berlin, the Emir met another honorary aryan the notorious Baron von Oppenheim who managed the German espionage service in Arab countries during the World War.
Local comment is highly newspaper is unflattering to Shakib Arslan who is thought to have traded in what remains of his political integrity for a cash grant calculated to make it easier for him to maintain an expensive establishment in Geneva, where sympathizers have lately been few and far between. - ↑ Menashe Shaul, The past belongs to the past, News1, 02/02/2014.
Following Mahmoud Hamdi's new book Zakzouk (Zagzoog) [زقزوق] - directs his criticism mainly to the clerics who deal with the midrash and do not dare to break free from the shackles of conservatism, fanaticism and commitment to the past...
Zakzouk mentions a story from the beginning of the 20th century about the Islamic thinker Shakib Arslan who met with the religious preacher
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. The conversation between them revolved around the delusional story that the Arabs preceded Christopher Columbus, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. Alafjani said: "When the Arabs try to cover up their omissions and backwardness these days, they claim that their ancestors did this and that. And this is the problem. Instead of doing something to fulfill their ambitions, they cling to their past." - ↑ Environmental Histories of the First World War. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2018. 179.
- ↑ The Moslem World. United Kingdom: Nile Mission Press, 1915. p.418.
- ↑ Bogosian, Eric. Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide. United States: Little, Brown, 2015. [3].
- ↑ Safi, The Ottoman Special Organization 2012, p. 204. ctd in Odile Moreau Teskilat-i Mahsusa (Ottoman Empire), Nov 23, 2018.
- ↑ The Ottoman Twilight in the Arab Lands: Turkish Memoirs and Testimonies of the Great War. United States: Academic Studies Press, 2019.
https://books.google.com/books?id=X_qdDwAAQBAJ&pg=P2015.
Only the die-hard Ottoman loyalist, the Druze Emir Shakib Arslan, raised a small force of Druze warriors at his own expense. They were never deployed.
- ↑ Kayalı, Arabs and Young Turks , 189.
Beşikçi, Mehmet. The Ottoman Mobilization of Manpower in the First World War: Between Voluntarism and Resistance. Netherlands: Brill, 2012. [178].
Shakib Arslan's volunteers from the Druze. - ↑ Provence, Michael. The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East. India: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 172.
In September 1925, Shakib Arslan left his unhappy exile in Mersin and moved to Switzerland permanently. - ↑ 24.0 24.1 Wild, Stefan. "National Socialism in the Arab near East between 1933 and 1939." Die Welt Des Islams, vol. 25, no. 1/4, 1985, pp. 126–73. JSTOR.
Die Welt des Islams. (1985). Germany: D. Reimer. Vols. 25-27, pp. 143-6.
The German Consulate in Jerusalem reported much stronger sympathies — for the Germans in general and for the "Führer" in particular.
'Ausschlaggebend für die bei den Arabern Deutschland gegenüber jetzt bestehenden Sympathien ist aber die Bewunderung, welche unser Führer genießt. Gerade die Unruhezeiten boten mir öfter Gelegenheit festzustellen, wie weit diese Sympathie verbreitet ist. Wenn man sich bei einer bedrohlichen Haltung einer arabischen Volksmenge als Deutscher zu erkennen gab, war dies im Allgemeinen schon ein Freibrief für ungehindertes passieren.
Wenn man sich aber durch den deutschen Gruss "Heil Hitler," auswies, schlug die Haltung der Araber meist in Begeisterung um und der Deutsche kam zu Ovationen, bei denen die Araber den deutschen Gruss stürmisch erwiderten.Die Begeisterung für unsren Führer und das neue Deutschland ist wohl deshalb so verbreitet, weil die palästinensischen Araber in ihrem Kampf um ihre Existenz einen arabischen "Führer" ersehnen und weil sie sich im Kampf gegen die Juden in einer Front mit den Deutschen fühlen.'
['The decisive factor for the sympathy that the Arabs now have towards Germany is the admiration our leader enjoys. The times of unrest in particular often gave me the opportunity to determine how widespread this sympathy is.
If one identified oneself as a German in a threatening attitude of an Arab crowd, this was generally a license to pass unhindered. But if you identified yourself with the German salute "Heil Hitler," the attitude of the Arabs usually turned to enthusiasm and the German received an ovation, during which the Arabs returned the German salute stormily. Enthusiasm for our leader and the new Germany is probably so widespread because the Palestinian Arabs long for an Arab "leader" in their struggle for their existence and because they feel they are on a front with the Germans in the fight against the Jews'].
After Hitler's victory in 1933 elections, there were at least two attempts to establish with German help Arab off-shoots of the NSDAP in Arab countries.
In April 1933 the German Consul General in Jerusalem, Heinrich Wolff was contacted by the Palestine correspondent of the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahrām, Joseph Francis, who acted as a spokesman for a group of Palestinian Arabs. In the same month, the German envoy in Baghdad, Fritz Grobba, was approached by 'Abdalghaffūr al-Badrī, an anti-sharifian ex-officer and editor of the Baghdad newspaper al-Istiqlāl. Both requested German assistance in establishing such a party. In both cases the answer was negative.
The Auswärtiges Amt stated in the case of the Palestinian group:
'A direct connection between Mr. Francis and members of the Ortsgruppen of the. NSDAP in Palestine would be regrettable. As German citizens then would be suspected of interfering in the domestic affairs of Palestine.'
Thus, paradoxically enough, it was the German side which effectively stopped all efforts to create Arab cells of National Socialists parties. As far as the Near East was concerned, the overriding idea behind this policy was the wish not to encroach on the British position in the Bear East.
For the same reason, not all demonstrations of sympathy towards Hitler's Germany were viewed favorably by the German side. When at the maulid-celebrations in Jerusalem in 1937 German and Italian flags were flown and in some cases also portraits of Fauzi Qawuqdjī, Mussolini and Hitler were shown, the reaction of the German Consulate was reticent:
'Ich betrachte diesen arabischen Versuch , durch Hissung deutscher Flaggen und Ausstellen von Bildern des Führers ihren Unwillen über die Engländer und die Juden zum Ausdruck zu bringen, als wenig erfreulich und als einen gewissen Missbrauch. Die Engländer dürften sich aber darüber im Klaren sein, dass man von deutscher Seite zu der Durchführung dieser Demonstration nicht beigetragen hat und dass es sich um eine von langer Hand vorbereitete rein arabische Aktion handelt. Die jüdische Presse hat diese Demonstration ausführlich behandelt und unter anderem darauf hingewiesen, dass die Begeisterung der Araber für den Führer widersinnig wäre, weil dieser alle Semiten, also auch die Araber, hasse. Die arabische Presse hat hierauf nicht reagiert. Von deutscher Seite sind arabische Anfragen auf Überlassung deutscher Flaggen abschlägig beschieden worden. Von einer Einwirkung auf die Araber, eine Benutzung der deutschen Bilder und Flaggen zu unterlassen, habe ich vorerst abgesehen.'
['I look at this Arab attempt by hoisting German flags and exhibiting pictures of the Führer expressing their displeasure with the English and the Jews as unpleasant and a certain abuse. However, the English should be aware that one has not contributed to the implementation of this demonstration from the German side and that it is a long-hand prepared purely Arab action. The Jewish press has discussed this demonstration in detail and, among other things, pointed out that the enthusiasm of the Arabs for the Führer would be absurd because he hates all Semites, including the Arabs. The Arab press did not react to this. From a German side, Arab inquiries on transfer of German flags have been decided. From an action to the Arabs, to refrain from using German pictures and flags, I have for now'].
The Palestinian paper al-Jāmi'a al-Islāmiyya wrote on January 1, 1938:'Many Arabs consider that Germany is a friend of the Arabs. This friendship is perhaps the result of the German hatred of Jews. Germany's anti-Jewish policy has caused a strong outflow of emigrants to Palestine - German Jews. This is the good that Germany did us.'
[...] However, the Haavara agreement which regulated Jewish emigration from Germany to Palestine was never commented on, let alone criticised in the Palestinian Press. And the image of Hitler's personality remained positive : his short cut to military power had - according to the Palestinian paper al - Kirmil — its only precedent in the military achievements of the [their] "Prophet."
The man who dominated Palestinian resistance to Zionism and who during the Second World War became an unhappy symbol of close collaboration between National Socialism and the Arabs, Hajj Amin al-Husaini, made clear that he welcomed the new regime in Germany and hoped for the spread of "fascist, antidemocratic leadership to other countries" and also approved of the anti -Jewish measures of the new regime. It is true that the Mufti also appealed "for a German-Jewish policy which would direct German Jews away from, not towards Palestine."
The German Consul General in Jerusalem Wolff observed "that the Arabs were too primitive politically to fully appreciate the fact that Germany and German Jewish policy were greatly intensifying their problem."
Francis Nicosia has shown in detail that Germany refused consistently in this period to become involved in anti-British policy in the Near East. When Fauzī al - Qāwuqjī approached the German envoy in Baghdad, Fritz Grobba, to obtain arms for the Arab rebellion in Palestine, he answered that relations with Great Britain were more important to the Hitler-government than possible gains of sympathy in the Arab world. The Arabs were given general sympathy for plans of self-determination — not more.
The channels of transmission of National-Socialist and Fascist ideas to the Arab Near East were manifold.
There was the deliberate attempt to spread these ideas via the usual diplomatic channels and the media.
Broadcasts in Arabic from Germany started relatively late - in April 1939. The program consisted of recital of passages from the Koran, Arabic music, Arabic literary texts and political commentaries.
One of the Arab speakers was Yūnus al-Bahri, who later wrote his memoirs about his time in Berlin under the title Hunā Berlin. Hayyi l - 'arab (Here is Berlin. Greetings to the Arabs) which was the customary start of the broadcasts Here is berlin (greeting to the Arabs) which was the customary start of broadcasts.
Approximately at the same time Radio Berlin edited an Arab bulletin Barid al-Sharq (Orient - Post), which regularly carried extracts from Hitler's speeches and political commentaries.
There were the activities of the German embassies and legations, one of the most active diplomats being certainly the German envoy in Iraq, Fritz Grobba.
These diplomats worked closely together with the local groups (Ortsgruppen) of the NSDAP, as far as they existed. There were a variety of contacts between the diplomatic missions and writers, politicians, journalists of different persuasions in Iraq, Egypt, Syria , Lebanon and Palestine. There were the Arab Clubs in Germany which were under the close supervision of the Gestapo. And there were free-lance journalists and politicians, Arabs who resided in neutral countries, who were influenced and sometimes paid by German money but were not under complete controle, like the Druze -Lebanese Emir Shakib Arslan (1869-1946), an Arab intellectual who resided in Switzerland, where he published his political journal La Nation Arabe... - ↑ The Maghreb Review: Majallat Al-Maghrib. United Kingdom: n.p., 1993. 41.
The Nazis strove to increase their influence by sending Takki ed-Din el-Hilali, the Arabic speaker of Radio Berlin, to Tetouan to stir up anti-Jewish feeling in Spanish Morocco, where there were nearly 13,000 Jews, besides those who lived in Ceuta and Melilla. Trips to Germany were funded and in Austria Shekib Arselan founded the Islamische Kulturbund.
- ↑ Blind für die Geschichte? Arabische Begegnungen mit dem Nationalsozialismus. Germany: De Gruyter, 2021. 22.
[Zu diesen Organisationen gehörten : 1. der Islamische Kulturbund (Rābiţat at - Taqāfa al-İslāmīya). Er war 1932 in Wien auf Initiative Arslāns gegründet worden; sein Vorsitzender war der muslimische Österreicher Omar Rolf von Ehrenfels (1901-1960), Ehrenvorsitzender der Brite Khalid Sheldrake (Benjamin William Sheldrake, 1888-1947), der zugleich der Western Islamic Association in London vorstand und Mitglied des während des Rifkrieges dort gebildeten Rif - Komitees gewesen war. Dem Islamischen Kulturbund gehörten drei marokkanische Nationalisten an: Muhammad al - Makki an - Nāşirī (1906-1972) aus Rabat, 'Abd as - Salām Banūna aus Tetuan und Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Wazzānī aus Fes.
Eine weitere Vereinigung war das Comité de Defense du Maghreb Arabe in Berlin. Es wurde von einem gewissen Khalid Boudon geleitet und richtete sich gegen die Kolonialmächte, insbesondere gegen Frankreich. 1930 organisierte es eine große Kundgebung in Berlin, um gegen die Feierlichkeiten zum 100. Jahrestag der Eroberung Algeriens und gegen die prozionistische Politik Großbritanniens in Palästina zu protestieren. Zu Marokko verbreitete das Comité eine Broschüre gegen den „Berber - Dahir“ mit dem Titel „Protestation contre l'attentat perpétré par la France au Maroc".]
These organizations included: 1. The Islamic Cultural Association (Rābiţat at-Taqāfa al-İslāmīya). It had been founded in Vienna in 1932 on the initiative of Arslān; its chairman was the Muslim Austrian Omar Rolf von Ehrenfels (1901-1960), honorary chairman of the Brit Khalid Sheldrake (Benjamin William Sheldrake, 1888-1947), who at the same time headed the Western Islamic Association in London and was a member of the Rif Committee formed there during the Rif War. Three Moroccan nationalists belonged to the Islamic Cultural Association: Muhammad al-Makki an-Nāşirī (1906-1972) from Rabat, 'Abd as-Salām Banūna from Tetuan and Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Wazzānī from Fez.
2. Another association was the Comité de Defense du Maghreb Arabe in Berlin. Led by a certain Khalid Boudon, it was directed against the colonial powers, especially France. In 1930 it organized a large rally in Berlin to protest the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the conquest of Algeria and Britain's pro-Zionist policies in Palestine. In Morocco, the committee distributed a brochure against the "Berber - Dahir" with the title "Protestation contre l'attentat perpétré par la France au Maroc".
- ↑ Islam and the European Union. Belgium: Peeters, 2004.
203.
In the Interwar period, some hundred Muslims lived in Austria , the Islamische Kulturbund existed in Vienna till 1939. In the Nazi era an association called Islamische Gemeinschaft zu Wien was registered.
- ↑ Schuller, Josef Peter. Die verborgene Moschee: Zur Sichtbarkeit muslimischer Gebetsräume in Wien. Germany: Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, 2014. 28.
[Verlust Bosnien-Herzegowinas sank naturgemäß die Anzahl von MuslimInnen in Österreich, dennoch wurde während der Ersten Republik der „Islamische Kulturbund" gegründet. Allerdings wurde dieser nach dem Anschluss Österreichs an das nationalsozialistische Deutschland wieder aufgelös. Das islamgesetz von 1912 bleib jedoch weiterhin in Kraft. Anstelle des „Islamischen Kulturbundes" wurde mit Unterstützung der NSDAP 1943 die „Islamische Gemeinschaft zu Wien" als eingetragener Verein etabliert, der sich allerdings 1948 als Folge interner Meinungsverschiedenheit im Zusammenhang mit politischen Einstellungen führender Mitglieder während des Zweiten Weltkriegs wieder auflöste.]
With the loss of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the number of Muslims in Austria naturally fell, but the "Islamic Cultural Association" was founded during the First Republic. However, it was dissolved again after Austria's annexation to National Socialist Germany. The Islam law of 1912, however, remains in force. Instead of the "Islamic Cultural Association", the "Islamic Community of Vienna" was established as a registered association with the support of the NSDAP in 1943, which, however, dissolved again in 1948 as a result of internal differences of opinion in connection with the political attitudes of leading members during the Second World War. - ↑ Raghid, Sulh. Lebanon and Arabism: National Identity and State Formation, I.B. Tauris, 2004. pp.67-6.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Edy Cohen, The Arab Mein Kampf, News1, Feb 16, 2014.
"Islam and the Jews" - the Mufti's essay - The hatred [sic] of the Jews towards the [sic] Arabs and Islam is ancient, which has taken root in the souls of the Jews since the beginning of Muhammad, the blessing of Allah... in the call to Islam. Enmity between the two peoples Haj Amin al-Husseini: "Some people may also think that if the Palestinian problem is solved in a way that satisfies the Arabs, and the Jews leave the Arab lands, then there will be no more reason for hostility between the two peoples - the Islamic Arab and the Jew. This is a misconception." From 1937, a small Arabic booklet called "Islam and Judaism" began to appear in the Middle East, written by the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini. As noted in "The Nazi Palestine," the pamphlet appeared without mentioning a company name. A year later, the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo published an identical pamphlet stating that it had been written by a cleric and a great sage from Palestine. The pamphlet was translated into German and Croatian during World War II and distributed to the Bosnian Muslim SS soldiers - the SS Division. The 13th mountain "Handschar".
This is a clearly anti-Semitic racist booklet, full of anti-Jewish expressions - the Arab Maine-Kampf. Mufti Amin al-Husseini presents the Jews in this pamphlet as [sic] enemies of Islam, as an irreparable race and as responsible not only for the killing of the Prophet Muhammad, but for all the troubles that befell the Muslims from the beginning of Islam to the present day. - ↑ "Matthias Küntzel: Islamic Antisemitism: How It Originated and Spread," July 3, 2018.
Islamic antisemitism did not develop spontaneously but was invented and used as a means to an end. This process began about 80 years ago in the context of Arab attempts to stop the Zionist immigration to Palestine which considerably increased in the 1930s. The first text that propagated sheer Jew-hatred in an Islamic context by mixing selected anti-Jewish episodes of Mohammed’s life with the so-called wickedness [sic] of Jews in the 20th century was a 31-page brochure in the Arabic language with the title Islam and Jewry, published on August 18, 1937 in Cairo. In September 1937, this pamphlet achieved significance through its distribution at the “National Arab Congress” in Bludan, a health resort in Syria, 30 miles (50 kilometres) northwest of Damascus... While historians have still to answer important questions about Islam and Jewry and Bludan, the political context which facilitated the emergence of Islamic antisemitism is quite clear....
The brochure itself culminates in the following call: “Do not tolerate the partition plan, for Palestine has been an Arab country for centuries and shall remain Arabic forever.” - ↑ The Palestine Post, 12 September 1937. Page 4.
Bludan Congress Against Partition Ahmed Shukeiri of Acre. The Mufti's Message Palestine Arabic have newspapers published the full text of the Mufti of Jerusalem's lengthy message to the Bludan Congress, in which he portrayed the danger to Arab countries of the Zionist-Jewish movement, which he described as a European Crusade against Islam, and declared that the Arab people would rise and fight world Jewry... Lebanese Attitude According to the Beirut correspondent of "Al Islamia," a rift has arisen between the Lebanese Premier and the Minister of Interior over the latter's desire, following a visit by Mouin el Maadi , the Mufti of Jerusalem's to envoy, to secure Lebanese Government support for the Palestine Arab question. L'Orient , of Beirut , regarded as the unofficial organ of the Lebanese Government , has indicated in a leading article that there can be no other attitude than that of friendly relations with the population of Palestine , no matter whether they were Arabs or Jews. Lebanon's best policy was one of complete neutrality , it was affirmed. "Nothing advantageous would have emerged from Lebanon's official participation in the Bludan Congress, and . on the other hand, Lebanon would have lost an important asset—the extensive summer traffic in its mountain resorts in which Jewish visitors have an important share."
Friday's issue of "Ad Difa'a" was severely critical of the Lebanese authorities. - ↑ A credible story..., M. Uziel, Maariv, May 1, 2016.
… "A 90-minute meeting with Hitler is not a trivial matter," says Oholy. "It promised that the only German interest in the Middle East would be the extermination of Jews. The Mufti wrote in his diary in Arabic that Hitler had told him that he was fighting Jews uncompromisingly and without respite. He added, 'I decided to find a solution to the Jewish problem in stages and without a break. I will direct the necessary and appropriate reading to all the peoples of Europe, and then to the countries outside Europe.' In other words, there is in fact justice in Netanyahu's claim, at least in that one of the first secret partners in the extermination plan was the Mufti. " ... the Mufti wrote on May 6, 1943 to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, in a letter requesting that Jews be sent to rescue: "And there will be a good deed of gratitude to the Arab people." ... Canaan was not just a journalist. "A trusted professional and impartial historian in his pioneering research, he was personally a great authority on Nazi-Palestinian activity in Palestine, as he was in charge of the issue as a senior officer in the British police and was involved in the entire investigation."... Bureau 06, the police unit that prepared the evidence file for the Eichmann trial, found a very strong connection between the Mufti and Eichmann. " It is very easy to find evidence of Eichmann and the Mufti's connections. Bureau 06 found, for example, a record of the Mufti in his personal diary on a page dated November 9, 1944, "And the good (or the faithful) in the Arab friends Eichmann." This is not only a random proof of the connection between the Mufti and Eichmann, but of the Mufti's involvement in the final solution, and of the Mufti's scale of values, according to which the extermination of the Jewish people is an act of friendship for the Arab cause. Herf attaches importance to the fact that al-Husseini was a Nazi-style extremist Jew-hater even before he arrived in Berlin. In his article, he quotes a speech delivered by the Mufti in 1937, before the outbreak of World War II and the Holocaust. The speech was delivered in Syria and when I read it I was amazed to find that it had been translated into German by the Nazi leadership at the time, published in a Nazi - controlled press and that all Nazi leaders knew it as early as 1938. At the same conference in Syria, Husseini was elected by the 400 deputies as the honorary president of the pan-Arab organization. After World War II, Haj Amin was accepted as a hero in Egypt and Palestine. In 1946, Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, called Husseini "a hero who challenged the empire and Zionism with the help of Hitler and Germany. Germany and Hitler are no more, but Amin al-Husseini will continue the struggle." A similar attitude of admiration was shown by the Arab Supreme Council and the Palestinian People's Party, which elected him their leader in 1945. In 1948, Amin al-Husseini was the commander of the Palestinian forces during the War of Independence, whose goal was to occupy and destroy the Jewish community. Prof. Meir Litvak, who co-authored the book "Empathy for Denial, Arab Reactions to the Holocaust," explains that al-Husseini's status among Palestinians is not excited today. "Mainly because they see him as primarily responsible for their defeat in the War of Independence," explains Prof. Litvak. "Some see him as responsible for the failure of Palestinian society to build political infrastructure and institutions as the Zionist movement did. Most writers on his activities in Germany try to downplay his actions, trying to justify his move to Germany by the British leaving him no choice, which is not true. "The Arab, and no one wants to be identified with her, despite the attempt to downplay the significance of the Holocaust. The Palestinian encyclopedia, for example, skips the years during which the Mufti stayed in Germany with the value written about him."
To a large extent, the PLO developed the lie of Zionist-Nazi cooperation in the extermination of the Jews, in order to counter the Mufti's real cooperation with the Nazis, Prof. Litvak claims. "Hamas and Islamic circles in Palestinian society, on the other hand, take a different approach," it praises the Mufti for his uncompromising stance in his struggle against Zionism, praising him for understanding the centrality of religion in the struggle against Zionism and the need to harness Islam for the war against the Jews. They have no problem with being in Nazi Germany. According to them, he did what was necessary to help the Palestinian cause. For them, the British and Americans were no better than the Germans. It would have been convenient for the Palestinians if the Germans had won the war... - ↑ Motadel, David. Islam and Nazi Germany’s War. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press, 2014, p. 378.
Arslan had been in contact with the German authorities in the Foreign Office and would remain so throughout the war, trying to influence Berlin's policies toward the Islamic world.
- ↑ Arab Responses to Fascism and Nazism: Attraction and Repulsion. United States: University of Texas Press, 2014, p. 87.
His better-known brother Shakib Arslan (1869–1946), chose a path different from that of most of ... his colleagues and sided with the Axis powers during World War II.
- ↑ Arabic Studies, (1991), Vol. 27, Iss. 9-12, p. 130.
الى جانب هذه الاجهزة الدعائية المتخصصة في شؤون الشرق ، اقامت حكومة الرايخ محطة اذاعة باللغة العربية في جوار برلين كذلك اصدرت مجلة « بريد الشرق » التي كانت تصدر كل اسبوعين في حين زودت جريدة النهار « البيروتية ، بادارة للاخبار وتجهيزات..
In addition to these propaganda agencies specialized in the affairs of the East, the Reich government set up an Arabic radio station in the vicinity of Berlin. It also published the "Barid al Sharq" magazine, which was published every two weeks, while providing the "Al-Nahar" newspaper, "Al-Beirutiyah", with news management and equipment. - ↑ Wien, Peter. Arab Nationalism: The Politics of History and Culture in the Modern Middle East. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2017, 252.
Von Leers also published articles in Barid al-Sharq.
- ↑ Motadel, David. Islam and Nazi Germany’s War. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press, 2014. p. 88.
Articles in Barid al-Sharq, dominated by the usual anti-British, anti-Communist, and anti-Jewish agitation, also drew on religious themes...
Contributors included the Lebanese pan-Islamist Shakib Arslan and Abdurreshid Ibrahim, who, after his service for Germany during the First World War, had now become imam of the Tokyo Mosque, giving the paper a further pan-Islamic tinge... The journal also published several speeches by members of the Nazi elite, by al-Husayni (including his calls for Jihad)...
The editors of Barid al-Sharq also published an Arabic- language brochure with the title Islam and the Jews (al-Islam wa-l-Yahud), based on a series of articles that the journal had run earlier under the same title. Numerous copies were distributed in Tunis. In spring 1942, the German consulate in Tangier reported the "confiscation" of several boxes of the brochure by Spanish officials. Files stored in the archives of the Foreign Office in Berlin indicate that the distribution of Barid al-Sharq in the Tangier zone repeatedly caused friction between German officials and the local Spanish administration during the North African campaign. The SS played only a small role in Germany's propaganda efforts targeting the Middle East and North Africa. Perhaps the most significant example was the attempt by SS officers to portray Hitler as a religious figure. - ↑ Le Maroc et l'Allemagne: actes de la première rencontre universitaire : études sur les rapports humains, culturels et économiques. Morocco: Editions arabo-africaines, 1991.
Al-Jaheer is a monthly magazine published by the Arabic section of Radio Berlin. It was addressed to the same readers of the "Barid al-Sharq" who had to be persuaded to be hostile to the Anglo-Saxons, the Communists and the Jews. On the other hand, the magazine seeks to bring the sympathy of these readers towards Germany, which is intended to be shown as a great power advocating Islam and Muslims. In this context, it is possible[sic] to understand that picture decorated for the back cover of double issues 5-6 of the magazine (December 1942), which shows the Mufti of Jerusalem...
الجهير مجلة شهرية يصدرها القسم العربي بإذاعة برلين كانت موجهة لنفس قراء « بريد الشرق » الواجب إقناعهم بمعاداة الانكلوساكسونيين والشيوعيين واليهود . وبالمقابل ، تسعى المجلة إلى جلب تعاطف هؤلاء القراء نحو ألمانيا المراد إظهارها كقوة عظمى مناصرة للإسلام والمسلمين في هذا الإطار يمكن فهم تلك الصورة - المزينة لظهر غلاف العدد المزدوج 5 - 6 من المجلة ( دجنبر 1942) والتي تبين مفتي القدس...
