Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al Husseini and Nazism

Submitted by Pete Farmer (United States), May 6, 2007 at 00:51

Hello all -

Thank you for an interesting thread and discussion. Nazism and the Middle East have well-defined links through the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al Husseini. Al Husseini, the most influential leader of Palestinian Arabs, lived in exile in Berlin during WWII and was an honored guest of Adolf Hitler. He helped raise a Bosnian SS Division, the 'Handscar' division, which became infamous for its brutality in the Balkans.

After the war, the Haj became a respected elder and figurehead in the Pan-Arabist movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He consulted with Egyptian President and leading Pan-Arabist Nasser, and later became a young Yassir Arafat's hero and idol.

I cannot find evidence documenting it, but I recall seeing somewhere that Saddam Hussein's family had links to the abortive revolts in the what is today modern Syria and Iraq, and to the Haj. Perhaps it was Saddam Hussein's uncle, the same one who served as his mentor as a thug and petty criminal during the early years of the dictator's rise to power. Of course, it is well-documented that Saddam admired both Hitler and Stalin, and studied both closely.

Sincerely,

Pete

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