For Yom Hazikaron – Shoah Memorial day in Israel -Dr Edy Cohen pondered the fact that two subjects are insufficiently discussed : Holocaust denial in the Arab world (a theory pioneered by Adolph Eichmann), and the part played by Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem. Article in Israel Hayom (With thanks: Lily):
The Arabs were among the first Holocaust deniers to adopt Eichmann’s theory. As a result, the Arab states were united in their opposition to the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany, which was signed only a few years after World War II had come to an end. During negotiations on this very agreement, the Arab states, and Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Jordan in particular, demanded West Germany transfer reparations not to Israel, but to the Palestinian refugees, who they claimed had been expelled by Israel.
“The Jews are the ones who caused World War II. Transfer your funds to the Palestinian people,” the Arab leaders wrote to then-German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, the man responsible for negotiating the reparations agreement with Israel.
In today’s Arab world, they do not learn about the Holocaust, and for this reason a number of conspiracy theories exist on the subject. As a rule, the Arabs are of the opinion that the Jews can in no way be the victims, as the only true victims are the Palestinians who were expelled from their lands by the Zionists. According to another theory, the Europeans did not want the Jews and their destructive nature and negative influence on European society, and so they asked Adolf Hitler to annihilate them or send them to Palestine.
Among the extremists, many believe the Holocaust was in fact punishment for the Jews’ refusal to accept Islam in the time of the Prophet Mohammed. Senior Muslim leaders such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the greatest theologians aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, justify the Holocaust as a “fitting punishment” that Allah inflicted on the Jews for their actions throughout history.
As Qaradawi put it, “Throughout history, Allah punished the Jews for their corruption. The last punishment they received was Hitler’s punishment, which succeeded in putting them in their place, although they went too far in what he did to them.”
Yet another theory in the Arab world holds that the Jews inflated the number of Holocaust victims to make the world feel remorse and so agree to the creation of a Jewish state in the land of Israel. Many Palestinians complain that they are the ones who paid and continue to pay the price for the Holocaust.
There are two subjects I believe are insufficiently discussed in Israel: The first is Holocaust denial in the Arab world, and the second is the actions of then- Jerusalem Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini against the Jews. Those in academia and various research institutes do not give enough attention to these subjects, which are crying out for serious study.
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