Netanyahu's Demagogy is Holocaust Denial

By Yossi Schwarz, Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in Israel / Occupied Palestine), 23.10.2015, http://www.the-isleague.com/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his inexhaustible demagogy, claimed on 21 October 2015 that it was the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who convinced Hitler to exterminate the Jews.

"Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel them," Netanyahu said in his speech to the World Zionist congress. When Hitler asked al-Husseini what to do, Netanyahu said he replied: "Burn them.” (1)

If we believe Benjamin Netanyahu, were it not for Haj Amin al-Husseini, Hitler would not have exterminated the Jews. This position is beyond contempt, as it whitewashes Hitler's crimes in order to blame the victims of Zionist oppression for the Nazis' crimes. In reality, the mass killing of Jews by SS mobile killing units – Einsatzgruppen – began in July 1941, before Hitler ever met the Mufti. Einsatzgruppen C, led by Otto Rasch, murdered more than 34,000 Jews in the Babi Yar near Kiev.

Haj Amin al-Husseini indeed was reactionary Jew-hater who supported Hitler and had a radio program from which, broadcasting from Berlin, he supported the Nazi regime. However it’s important to remember that Haj Amin al-Husseini was appointed to the position of the Mufti by Herbert Samuel, the first high commissioner of Palestine during the British Mandate, who was a Zionist and Samuel was influenced in his decision by the leaders of the Zionist settlers. The latter initially considered al-Husseini as one who would serve the interests of the British Mandate, and thereby the Zionist aims.

Another important fact to recall is that the Zionists openly collaborated with Nazi Germany until 1939 in the "transfer" of Jewish funds out of Germany to Palestine. On August 7, 1933, leaders of the Zionist movement concluded a pact with the Third Reich by which some 60,000 Jews and $100 million were transferred to Jewish settlers in Palestine. In return, the Zionists halted the worldwide anti-Nazi boycott campaign and became distributors of products from Nazi Germany in the Middle East. Today even Zionists have to admit to this. (2)

Another point: In 1941 the Zionist terrorist organization Lehi (NMO) sent a letter of support to the leaders of Nazi Germany asking them to form an alliance, as the Lehi wanted to establish a similar regime in Palestine the letter reads as follows:

“The NMO, which is well-acquainted with the goodwill of the German Reich government and its authorities towards Zionist activity inside Germany and towards Zionist emigration plans, is of the opinion that:

1. Common interests could exist between the establishment of a new order in Europe in conformity with the German concept, and the true national aspirations of the Jewish people as they are embodied by the NMO.

2. Cooperation between the new Germany and a renewed folkish-national Hebraium would be possible and,

3. The establishment of the historic Jewish state on a national and totalitarian basis, bound by a treaty with the German Reich, would be in the interest of a maintained and strengthened future German position of power in the Near East.“ (4)

Proceeding from these considerations, the NMO in Palestine, under the condition the above-mentioned national aspirations of the Israeli freedom movement are recognized on the side of the German Reich, offers to actively take part in the war on Germany’s side.

According to Netanyahu's logic, the NMO is responsible for the extermination of the Jews in Europe. But, of course, this is total nonsense.

Is it any wonder that the most right-wing pro- Nazi organizations love Netanyahu and Israel?

As early as 2008, the Israeli journalist Tamar Fox pointed this out when she wrote: “A Neo Nazi group in Germany recently launched a website that expresses its solidarity with Israel.” According to Ynet:

‘A strong nation is worthy of life; an ailing nation deserves death," it said, before detailing an ideology sporting the traditional Nazi concept of purity of the race on the one hand, and calling on National Socialists to let go of their hatred for Jews and support the Jewish people's right to their own homeland on the other. "Deportations, pogroms and inquisitions were all understandable acts which were carried out by nations merely trying to defend themselves," said the website of past persecutions of Jews." That is also the context in which the event called the “Holocaust” must be viewed… This does not justify it. Instead of destroying the Jews we should have taken every measure possible to support the Zionist movement." The group goes on to harshly criticize the Nazi regime as the cause of the "unnecessary rivalry" between Germany and its "brethren neighbors," and slams the current leaders of Germany's extreme right as "cowardly reactionaries.’

The group is called National Socialists for Israel, and among other things, they’ve started distributing stickers in Berlin with Israeli soldiers on them and the words, “A 2000-year struggle for survival. Respect those who have earned it." Another sticker has a picture of senior Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, and under the words, "As a Nazi, I'm a Zionist." (5)

This is far from an isolated case. As was published in al-Jazeera:

“Far-right parties are professing a new found love of Israel as a way of escaping their past anti-Semitism and racism, and to justify their prejudice towards European Muslims as not being racist," Toby Archer, a researcher who studies far-right parties and the "counter-jihad blogosphere", explained to Al Jazeera. "Parties like the British National Party (BNP) in the UK, Vlaams Belang in Belgium, and the National Front in France are all coming out from a neo-fascist past.” (5)

The scandalous statement, made by the Israeli Prime Minister before the conference of the World Zionist Congress now being held in Jerusalem, was intended to justify Israel’s extra-judicial killing of Palestinians. But, based on reactions till now, Netanyahu’s ploy has backfired. On 21 October 2015, the British Guardian wrote that Netanyahu’s speech has attracted a storm of criticism:

“Yad Vashem’s chief historian, Prof Dina Porat, told the Israeli news website Ynet that Netanyahu’s claims were incorrect: “You cannot say that it was the Mufti who gave Hitler the idea to kill or burn Jews. It’s not true. Their meeting occurred after a series of events that point to this.”(6)

By making the claim he did, Benjamin Netanyahu has joined the camp of holocaust deniers. It takes the son of Ben-Zion Netanyahu, a known fascist whom even Menachem Begin called a “right-wing extremist” and others called “racist” (7) to issue a statement that in effect whitewashes Hitler, as if Hitler needed encouragement from Haj Amin al-Husseini to exterminate the Jews. Such claims dovetail nicely with the pro-Nazi propaganda which nowadays is aimed directed towards Muslims.

Footnotes

(1) Josef Federman:Israel's Netanyahu heads to Berlin to meet Kerry, Oct 21, 2015 http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/world_news/netanyahu-causes-uproar-by-linking-palestinians-to-holocaust/article_8ee200ac-d437-597c-a966-c8bcd2197bc9.html

(2) Yf’aat Weiss: The Transfer Agreement and the Boycott Movement: A Jewish Dilemma on the Eve of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%203231.pdf

(3) Quoted in Lenni Brenner: 51 Documents, December 23, 2002, http://www.counterpunch.org/2002/12/23/51-documents/

(4) Tamar Fox: Neo-Nazis Love Israel, June 6, 2008, http://jewcy.com/jewish-religion-and-beliefs/neo_nazis_love_israel#sthash.WJqbMFKY.dpuf

(5) Nour Samaha: JDL and far-right parties find common ground. Extremist Jewish factions and far-right parties team up against "Islamisation" despite the latter's anti-Semitic past, 29 Dec 2011, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/12/2011121391638252910.html

(6) Peter Beaumont: Anger at Netanyahu claim Palestinian grand mufti inspired Holocaust, The Guardian, October 21 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/21/netanyahu-under-fire-for-palestinian-grand-mufti-holocaust-claim

(7) Lawerence Joffe: Benzion Netanyahu Obituary https://www.academia.edu/10235422/Obituary_Benzion_Netanyahu