The 1920's And The Spread of Hate
The Accusation Belligerent Zionists Brought Opposition On Themselves
In previous chapters of this essay, I have made varied and many points, some of which are disputed, but these disputes are finite and fairly predictable. Here and in subsequent chapters, I want to provide answers for the typical narrative misunderstandings and disagreements anti-Zionist activists will use. I do not believe their points withstand much scrutiny.
A good place to start is with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, whose embrace of Nazi ideology set the tone behind the ideology of Palestinian’s nationalist aspirations.
Go deeper: The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler
Palestinian apologists will claim he was just a figurehead, appointed to his position by the British. However, the British appointing him as Mufti is not relevant to his influence. He was appointed Mufti because he was from a prominent family which had been elite among and influential among the Palestinian Arabs for generations. His father had been Mufti as well. It is common for anti-Zionists and pro-Palestinian activists to get the causality backwards on many issues. For example, they like to claim the settlements and checkpoints in the West Bank are the cause of Palestinian “resistance” against Israel rather than allowing these are results of Palestinian violence and the legitimate need to contain it ( which I will discuss in a later chapter ).
His name was Mohammad Amin Al-Hussayni. In reality, he was organizing paramilitary and mob violence against the Jewish immigrants starting in 1919, years before he was ever appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Here is an excerpt from a nicely written history of his activities,
Arab nationalists were unsure how best to react to British authority. The two preeminent Jerusalem clans, the el-Husseinis and the Nashashibis, battled for influence throughout the mandate, as they had for decades before. The former was very anti-British, whereas the latter favored a more conciliatory policy.
Anti-Zionist Demonstration at Damascus Gate, Jerusalem (March 8, 1920)
One of the el-Husseinis, Haj Amin, who emerged as the leading figure in Palestinian politics during the mandate period, first began to organize small groups of suicide groups, fedayeen (“one who sacrifices himself”), to terrorize Jews in 1919 in the hope of duplicating the success of Kemal in Turkey and drive the Jews out of Palestine, just as the Turkish nationalists were driving the Greeks from Turkey. The first large Arab riots began in Jerusalem on April 4, 1920, during the intermediary days of Passover. The Jewish community had anticipated the Arab reaction to the Allies’ convention and was ready to meet it. … Six Jews were killed and some 200 injured in Jerusalem in the course of the 1920 riots. In addition, two Americans, Jakov Tucker and Ze’ev Scharff, both WWI veterans, were killed resisting an Arab attack on the Jewish settlement of Tel Hai in March 1920. Had it not been for the preliminary organization of the Jewish defense, the number of victims would have undoubtedly been much greater. …
With the arrival in Jerusalem of the first High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, the British military government was superseded by a civilian administration. As a gesture toward the civilian population, the High Commissioner proclaimed a general amnesty for both Jews and Arabs who had been involved in the April 1920 riots. …
In 1921, Haj Amin el-Husseini began to organize larger-scale fedayeen groups to terrorize Jews. Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, former head of British military intelligence in Cairo and later Chief Political Officer for Palestine and Syria, wrote in his diary that British officials “incline towards the exclusion of Zionism in Palestine.”
In fact, the British encouraged the Arabs to attack the Jews. According to Meinertzhagen, Col. Waters Taylor, financial adviser to the Military Administration in Palestine 1919–23, met with Haj Amin a few days before Easter in 1920 and told him “he had a great opportunity at Easter to show the world…that Zionism was unpopular not only with the Palestine Administration but in Whitehall and if disturbances of sufficient violence occurred in Jerusalem at Easter, both General Bols [Chief Administrator in Palestine, 1919–20] and General Allenby [Commander of Egyptian Force, 1917–19, then High Commissioner of Egypt] would advocate the abandonment of the Jewish Home. Waters-Taylor explained that freedom could only be attained through violence.”
Haj Amin took the Colonel’s advice and instigated a riot. The British withdrew their troops and the Jewish police from Jerusalem, and the Arab mob attacked Jews and looted their shops. Due to Haj Amin’s overt role in instigating the pogrom, the British arrested him. Yet, despite the arrest, Haj Amin escaped to Jordan, but he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in absentia. A year later, however, British Arabists convinced High Commissioner Herbert Samuel to pardon Haj Amin and to appoint him Mufti.
So, that is how Hussayni obtained the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem title from the British. He came from a prominent family, where his father had also held the title, and he was an effective organizer of violent resistance to Jewish immigration, which some of the British officials on the ground also opposed.
This excerpt below from the Wiki on the 1920 Jerusalem riot ( originally quoted by Benny Morris in Righteous Victims ) describes words and scenes disturbingly similar to what we see in the Arab’s violence against the Jewish people of Israel today,
The crowd reportedly shouted “Independence! Independence!” and “Palestine is our land, the Jews are our dogs!”[1] Arab police joined in applause, and violence started.[15] The local Arab population ransacked the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The Torath Chaim Yeshiva was raided, and Torah scrolls were torn and thrown on the floor, and the building then set alight.[1] During the next three hours, 160 Jews were injured.[15]
Khalil al-Sakakini witnessed the eruption of violence in the Old City:
“[A] riot broke out, the people began to run about and stones were thrown at the Jews. The shops were closed and there were screams. … I saw a Zionist soldier covered in dust and blood. … Afterwards, I saw one Hebronite approach a Jewish shoeshine boy, who hid behind a sack in one of the wall’s comers next to Jaffa Gate, and take his box and beat him over the head. He screamed and began to run, his head bleeding and the Hebronite left him and returned to the procession. … The riot reached its zenith. All shouted, “Muhammad’s religion was born with the sword”. … I immediately walked to the municipal garden. … my soul is nauseated and depressed by the madness of humankind.”[16]
Go deeper: The Arab Riots of the 1920's
What is more relevant than his Mufti title to Mohammad Al-Hussayni’s importance is his position as chair of the Arab Higher Committee, which organized and directed the revolt by the Arabs of Palestine, and also their fight against both Jews and British leading up to and after the Peel commission issued its recommendation of a partition. His position here is both proof of his power and influence independent of the British and his role as an organizing force in Palestinian ideology towards the Jews in Palestine. He was not appointed by the British to the Arab Higher Committee. He held that position because he came from the most prominent family in Jerusalem and he was the actual ideological and operational leader of the Palestinians.
Go deeper: The Wiki on the Arab Higher Committee
Go deeper: The Wiki on Mohammad Amin Al-Hussayni, the original organizer of Palestinian resistance
The Wiki about Al-Hussayni above makes the salient point, “He represented a combination of Islamism, anti-Zionism and conspiracy theory anti-Semitism and spread this ideology sustainably among Arabs. From 1936 to 1939 he led the Arab Revolt against Jewish immigrants and the British.”
Nazism in both thought and deed ran deep in the Arab world and continues today in evolved form, taking on other clothes but the same body. It has been well-documented as well. It is a big topic which I recommend any reader pursuing. Here are three books which tell the story pretty fully.
Activists are wrong to state or imply he was an unimportant figurehead whom the Palestinians did not follow, appointed by the British. This is absolutely just false history and pro-Palestinian propaganda, as Palestinians try to wash their hands of responsibility for how history has played out.
Again from the Wiki above ( quoting from Richard L. Rubenstein in Jihad and Genocide ),
At a clan meeting, al-Husseini accused Faisal ( leader of Syria ) of being a willing servant of the British and of collaborating with the Jews. The Arabs would have to drive a wedge between their opponents, otherwise the British would gain control of the Arab world with the help of world Jewry centered in Palestine. From then on, al-Husseini emerged as an uncompromising opponent of Zionism, which he saw as a long-term threat to an Arab Palestine. According to the Jewish journalist Abbady, he told him at the time that he had nothing against Jews born in Palestine: “But we will massacre those foreign invaders, the Zionists, to the last man. We don’t want progress, we don’t want prosperity [through Jewish immigration]. Nothing other than the sword will decide the future of this country.” From 1920 onwards, al-Husseini continually claimed all of Palestine as an Arab state, refusing territorial concessions to Jews and only accepting Jews who had been born in the area by 1917; He wanted to drive out or destroy all the others.
Only a minority of Palestinians say anything which is different today, except that Al-Hussayni’s Pan-Arab nationalism has been replaced by a localized Palestinian nationalism supplied by the Soviets ( who co-opted their fight by repackaging it into a “liberation” movement they could use against the United States during the cold war ). There’s otherwise been little reformation or change among many Palestinians. They straight lined from pogroms right into Nazism, as I’ve already written, and Al-Hussayni led that and then from Nazism into a Soviet-style “liberation” movement and now an Islamic nationalist struggle. While the packaging has kept up with the times, the underlying character has remained consistent: Kill the Jews and take the land, to cure the insult and humiliation of outsider Jewish immigration onto Muslim territory.
The early Israelis were aware of this! These were facts on the ground and it was part of the struggle. You cannot accurately depict Israeli decisions or Jewish behavior in the region without understanding that they understood this. You can hear Palestinians of today echo very similar sentiments as Al-Hussayni ninety years ago if you watch the video at the Go deeper links below.
Go deeper on current Palestinian Nationalism reflecting Al-Hussayni’s ideology:
Video: The Ask Project, What will happen to the Jews when you take back Palestine?
Video: The Ask Project, Would you compromise with Israel for peace?
Anti-Zionists never honestly face this. When Israelis and Jews around the world listen to Palestinians and their supporters today, we hear they’ve changed their ideology only in that they’ve intermixed Soviet/Marxist propaganda about colonialism and liberation/resistance into the basic xenophobic and anti-Jewish stew, to make it more appealing to western liberals and to former colonized nations in Africa. There’s been zero reformation of goals or attitudes.
The actions of Israel’s government are not just an exercise of a “right” to self-defense, but the acting out of an obligation to proactively protect citizens from known and continuing violent threats, rather than wait for the threats to manifest or become severe.
The best way to understand how things have gone so badly is to read the chapters of this resource in order, from beginning to end, clicking on the Go deeper links as your time allows. It is an immersive experience and few people will get through unchanged, having learned the context of the conflict, including parts the United Nations does not want people to learn.
This essay is part of a larger resource for parents, teachers, students, concerned individuals, and anyone else who desires to contextualize the conflict and navigate the accusations against Israel and Palestinians.
All Chapters:
0. Foreword to Zionism and Anti-Zionism
1. The Gish Gallop of Anti-Zionism
3. For Hamas, The Suffering Is The Point
4. What Is Israel? Why So Much Violence?
5. The Hebrew People, Not the Jewish Religion
6. Chosen For Their Insignificance, Not Their Superiority
7. The Incoherence of, “I am not anti-Semitic. I am just against Zionism.”
8. Refugee Immigration, Not Settler Colonialism
9. How the Zionists Saved ( Not Conquered ) Palestine
10. The 1920’s And The Spread of Hate
11. History and Ideology, and the History of Ideology, Matter
12. New History and New Mythology
13. The Jewish Nakba, a Third Wave of Immigration
14. Putting Palestine and the Palestinian Nakba Into Perspective
15. The Secret Story of the First Palestinian State
16. An Intentionally Maintained Forward Army, Not “Refugees”
17. Violence Suppression, Not Racial Oppression
18. The Illegal Occupation Which Wasn’t, and So Had To Be
19. The Occupation Today and Palestinian Fear of Israelis
20. Fishing the World’s Memory Hole: The Second Intifada
21. How Arabs Erase The Jews ( And Prevent Peace )
22. Someone Needs To Tell The Arabs
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