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Spotlight

The Chapel
that recognizes
each family's individual needs.

Hitler's Mufti

The skeleton in the Palestinian closet.

Philadelphia

of World War I, he rose to prominence
as a fanatical opponent of both the
t is axiomatic that a knowledge
British and the Jews.
of history is a prerequisite for
Ironically, it was a British Jew,
understanding the present. But
Sir Herbert Samuel, who appointed
the question is: How much
Husseini to the post
weight should we give to
of mufti, the putative
controversial figures from
Muslim religious leader of
the past when deciding
Jerusalem.
how to think about current
Samuel became the first
conflicts?
high commissioner of the
According to the authors
territory in 1920.
of a new book about Haj
Palestine had been given
Amin al-Husseini (1893-
to Britain as a mandate
1974), the grand mufti of
by the League of Nations
Jerusalem, who played a
in order for them to make
Jonathan S.
- key role in fomenting and
good on their 1917 Balfour
Tobin
exacerbating the struggle
Declaration promise to cre-
Special
between Jews and Arabs
ate a Jewish national home
Commentary
during much of the 20th
in the country.
century, the answer is quite
While many in the
a lot.
British government were openly hos-
The book, Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti tile to Zionism, Samuels was not. But
and the Rise of Radical Islam, by
he was concerned about being seen as
David G. Dalin and John F. Rothman,
evenhanded between Jews and Arabs.
makes the case that you can draw
So when there was a vacancy in the
a direct line from al-Husseini to
office of mufti, Samuels appointed the
not only the Palestine Liberation
hard-line Husseini.
Organization and Hamas — groups
This was a decision the Jews would
that took up his battle against
rue for decades as Husseini used his
Zionism — but to
post as a plat-
Iran, Al Qaida and
form to promote
the 9-11 conspira-
11FrERIeS IMF?' and he RISE of RADICAL ISLAM
hatred against
tors.
the Zionists, who
That's a searing
were transforming
indictment that
the country from
both support-
a barren back-
ers of Israel and
water into what
its foes ought to
would become the
examine closely.
modern State of
And if this book
Israel. Husseini
fails to deliver the
incited the riots
definitive account
of 1929 in which
of the mufti's life
hundreds of Jews
in English that
were slaugh-
students of this
tered by Muslim
period of history
pogromists and
have been waiting
did his best to
for, it, neverthe-
better that record
less, shines a spot- DAVID G. DALIN and JOHN E HOHMANN during the Arab
light on a figure
Revolt of 1936-39.
who deserves far
Though the
greater attention than he has received mufti's gangs were defeated, his work
in recent decades.
paid dividends in 1939 when the
British, as eager to appease Arabs and
Appointed By A Jew
Muslims on the eve of World War II
Husseini was a member of an elite
as they were the Germans, issued a
landed-clan of Palestinian Arabs who
White Paper that placed severe limits
retain their status to this day (Yasser
Arafat was a cousin). In the aftermath Hitler's Mufti on page B86

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heartfelt
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to the fitmilies
we have served.

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Shalom
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Cantor: Samuel Greenbaum of
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Clover Hill Park Cemetery

Rabbi Boruch E. Levin

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emonal
Chapel

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Funeral Director

From Generation to Generation

JIN

September 25 . 2008

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