Who was Haj Amin al-Husseini?
Appointed Mufti of Jerusalem by the British in 1921, Haj Amin al-Husseini was the most prominent Arab figure in Palestine during the Mandatory period. Al-Husseini was born in Jerusalem in 1893, and went on to serve in the Ottoman Army during World War I. Anti-British and anti-Jewish, the mufti was the key nationalist figure…
Did Haj Amin ask Britain to give Palestine independence?
As the spokesman for Palestinian Arabs, Haj Amin did not ask that Britain grant them independence. On the contrary, in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1921, he demanded that Palestine be reunited with Syria and Transjordan.
What did Mufti al-Husseini do?
Known later as the Grand Mufti, al-Husseini was able to establish himself as the preeminent Arab power in Palestine. One of the mufti’s most successful projects was the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque. With funds collected from India and various Arab states, the Dome was plated in gold.
Why is Husseini so important?
Yet, if some exaggerate Husseini’s importance for developments in Europe, it would be equally misguided to minimize the depth of his collaboration and its deep roots in his political and religious convictions. In Hitler and the Nazis he recognized ideological soulmates who shared his profound hatred of the Jews, Judaism and Zionism.
(November 28, 1941) Haj Amin al-Husseini, the most influential leader of Palestinian Arabs, lived in Germany during the Second World War. He met Hitler, Ribbentrop and other Nazi leaders on various occasions and attempted to coordinate Nazi and Arab policies in the Middle East.
What did al-Husseini say about the Jews?
Al-Husseini had obviously come to Berlin in the middle of the play, and could not possibly have had any influence on decisions that had already been taken. Nor did he say anything about the fate of the millions of Jews—most of them Polish and Soviet nationals—who had already come under Hitler’s control.
What did Husseini get from the Axis powers?
In his dealings with Nazi Germany, Husseini had already gotten what he wished for: an Axis broadcast supporting Arab independence; the halt of Jewish emigration to the Mideast by the Nazis; and a secret 1942 letter between Berlin, Rome, Gaylani and him to agree to liquidate the Jews in Palestine.
What if Berlin won the war and Husseini won?
Had Berlin won the war, Husseini would have been a rich leader of a Greater Arab Empire, and supported by the Nazis. And the mufti was not the only Arab guest in the Luftwaffe chief’s office near the Brandenburg Gate that day.