Some Things Never Change, Do they?

(The following can be footnoted in David Dalin’s “The Myth of Hitler’s Pope,” Ralph McInerny’s “The Defamation of Pius XII,” or Roy Schoeman’s “Salvation is from the Jews”)

Ann Coulter noted recently “the intriguing diary entries of British jihadist Zeeshan Siddique,” on April 10th of this year. “Siddique was captured last April in Pakistan by that country's security forces. His diary is a sort of Plan-a-Jihad journal,” which included his commentary on the Pope’s death,— "Allah will throw him in hell." This is, of course, after Islamists tried to kill John Paul II (a plot with pointman Ramzi Yousef, and back by a certain Osama bin Laden). Question: what did the Pope ever do to these people?

The answer lies with the main problems with the Middle East.

And believe it or not, the problems with the Middle East started a while ago. You may not believe that if you’re part of the left crowd, but it’s true. Whatever do I mean by that? Do I mean, as Bernard Lewis does in his “What Went Wrong?” that the Middle East never grew out of the Ottoman Empire mentality that they rule the world? That’s certainly part of it, and I wouldn’t even presume to question the scholarship of a man like Lewis (do not, however, get me started on his adversary, Edward Said, may he burn in eternal flames for saying that the US deserved 9/11).

It is, in fact, far worse than anyone supposes. The trouble with the Middle East, in part, can be traced to the Nazis. No, I am not being allegorical, but literal.

You may have heard of the myth of Hitler’s Pope (Which happens to be a very nice book by Rabbi David Dalin, btw), that Eugenio Pacelli, aka Pius XII, worked with, for, or around Hitler in support of the final solution of the Holocaust. Daily readers (all four of them) know my opinion on that subject, and will hear about it even more in the weeks to come. This, of course, is a myth started by former Nazi Rolf Hoccuth, and perpetuated by liars tramps and thieves like John Cornwell, James Carroll, Gary Wills, Susan Zuccolti, Evan Katz (who was sentenced to jail for his lies), and an ever growing list of liberals who’d like to see the Catholic Church swing from the nearest tree (that’s crucifixion, not hanging).

What you never hear about is what Rabbi Dalin labels Hitler’s Mufti. To be more precise, he is properly called the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Al-Husseini was installed by the English, who are themselves not known for being very pro-Semetic. Remember, in the 1920s, as a prize of World War I, Palestine was a mandate of Britain—they ran it and everything in it. Hajj al-Husseini was the recognized leader of the Palestinians, and in April 1920 led a rampage against local Jews, wounding 211, and killing five. The British convicted him, but ignored the whole incident and made him Grand Mufti two years later.

Al-Husseini called for an anti-Jewish jihad in Palestine during the 1930s, saying “Murder the Jews! Murder them all!,” starting riots in 1929 and 1936-1939. He would later move his rhetorical style to Berlin radio, stating in one “Kill the Jews—Kill them with your hands, kill them with your teeth! This is well pleasing to Allah!” (reminiscent of Eduardo Chianelli’s exhortation in the film “Gunga Din”: “Kill for the Love of Kali! Kill for the love of killing! KILL! KILL! KILL!”)

Al-Husseini’s connection with Hitler begins in 1937, when he sent emissaries to Berlin, first lending support, then suggesting collaboration. In this he was a little slow. When the German anti-Jewish laws went into effect in 1934, the Islamic world sent them congratulations. Husseini would become friends with Adolf Eichmann (the banal evil that engineered the Holocaust logistically), and pushed for the extermination of Jews as soon as possible. It is not surprising that Eichmann was also sent to meet with the Irgun, one of the lead armed Zionist groups—the Nazis wanted Jews out of Germany, and Irgun was happy to catch them in Israel. However, al-Husseini had no problem with Jews coming to Palestine, as long as they would die. He was also sent to Iraq to do a pro-Nazi rally there, but was tossed out (more on Iraq later).

SS chief Heinrich Himmler took Husseini on tours of the death camps, and the mufti pushed for greater diligence in running the gas chambers. Eichmann’s deputy Dieter Wisliceny mentioned that the mufti “played a role in the decision to exterminate the European Jews.” At the Nuremburg trials, he stated that “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… one of Eichmann’s best friends”

He also had a Muslim clerical school in Dresden, where Muslims could be trained in Nazism, and introduce it to the Middle East. In exchange for this service, Husseini went into Bosnia to recruit Muslims for the SS, who wore specially marked fezzes with the swastika on them. You can also see photos of Husseini in Bosnia inspecting the SS troops (see: Shoeman, 258. If you want to see more research on Muslim/Arab Nazis, hit the Yad vashem archives , or the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The Muslim SS Hanjar (“sword”) unit massacred about 90% of Bosnia’s Jews.

Husseini made it to Egypt after the war, hiding there until the day that bastard died in 1974.

So what? Why does Mufti al-Husseini matter today? What’s he to do with the Middle East?

Well, let’s start with the fact that the grand mufti imported Nazi experts to train young Palestinians in guerilla tactics—the start of a group we know as the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

During the Six Day War in 1967, Israeli’s found Egyptian prisoners carrying issues of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” Ironically, it had been translated into Arabic by a man known as el-Hadj…aka former Nazi propagandist Lius Heiden. Mein Kampf would be republished by Yassir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority in 2001 and was an instant bestseller throughout the Middle East—in 1999, it was sixth on the bestseller list in Palestine (and this is before the reprint). By the way, did I mention that “Schindler’s List” is banned?

And the legacy of al-Husseini lives on today, in the form of his nephew—Abd al-Rahman abd al-Bauf Arafat al-Qud al-Husseini. Yes, I know, if you blink you miss the key word—Arafat. Yes, THAT Arafat.

Then there’s the Grand Mufti’s grandson, Skeikh Ekrima Sabri, the CURRENT Mufti of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He said “The figure of 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust is exaggerated…It was a lot less. It’s not my fault if Hitler hated the Jews. Anyway, they hate them just about everywhere.” Funny—Pope John Paul II never visited the Temple Mount, but he DID visit the Wailing Wall, which is right next door.

Anyway, remember how I mentioned that pro-Nazi rally that got Husseini tossed out of Iraq? One of those rally members was a man named Khayrallah Tulfah. After the war, he lived with his nephew, and in the main room of his house he had an idolized portrait of Hitler on the wall. This nephew would grow up to be one mean and nasty fellow—in fact, one of his mistresses noted that he would look himself in the mirror and state “I am Saddam Hussein. Heil Hilter!”

And let us not forget Gamal Nasser, who helped the Nazis in Egypt during the war, and who later led the Six Day War against Israel. He even adopted the slogan “One folk, One party, One leader.” Sigg Heil! His successor, Anwar Sadat, also had ties to the Reich. SS General Oskar Dirlewanger, who crushed the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, was Nasser’s personal bodyguard. Johannes von Leers, Goebbel’s main man, was put in charge of Egypt’s Ministry of Information in 1955. Gestapo man Hans Becher went on to become a police instructor in Egypt. Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Boerner, a guard at Mauthausen concentration camp trained members of the Palestine Liberation Front.

And let’s not forget that the Socialist nationalist party of Syria had a “Furher” and their banner donned the swastika as well.

So, the next time someone calls bin Laden and co “Islamofascists,” there’s a reason for it.