The Prayer That Brought Jihad - farhudbook.com · Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti...
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This article is drawn from Edwin Black’s recently released book, The Farhud, Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance During the Holocaust (Dialog 2010). A s Israelis and Palestinians struggle with a 21st cen- tury peace process, the world must face the forgotten his- tory that was so pivotal in deter- mining the present crisis. In many ways, a turning point was the day Arabs massacred Jews because they dared to sit at the Wailing Wall while praying. This simple act of prayer was so unacceptable to Arabs that it helped launch a worldwide crisis of hate that pro- voked a global Islamic jihad, forged an Arab-Nazi alliance dur- ing the Holocaust, and still echoes today. T he year was 1929. Jewish Palestine was still being set- tled by torrents of eastern European refugees. The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine included the provision for a Jewish Homeland. The Balfour Declaration, widely endorsed by many nations, was a matter of international law. But the Arabs in Palestine refused to co-exist with Jews in any way except with the latter as second-class dhimmis. Islam had been at war with the Jewish people since its defining inception in 627 when Mohammad exterminated the Jews of Mecca and launched the Islamic Conquest that swept north and subsumed Syria- Palestina. For centuries, Jews and Christians in Arab lands were allowed to exist as dhim- mis, second-class citizens with limited religious rights. These restrictions were enforced by the Turks who, until World War I, ruled the geographically undeter- mined region known as Palestine, which included Jerusalem. When the Ottoman Empire fell, after World War I ended in 1918, the British were obligated by the Mandate to maintain the Turkish status quo at the Wailing Wall. That status quo, according to numerous decrees under Sharia, maintained that Jews could pray at the Wailing Wall — the last remnant of the Temple — only quietly and never sit, even in the heat. Nor were Jews allowed to separate men from women during prayer. The Jews revered the Wailing Wall as their holiest accessible place and a direct connection to God. But under Turkish and Arab tradition, the Wailing Wall was not the Jews’ holy site. Rather, it was revered by Muslims as al-Buraq, the place where Mohammad tethered his winged steed during his miraculous ascent to heaven. During that journey, according to Islamic tradition, Mohammad flew through the air on his mag- nificent horse to the furthest mosque. The furthest mosque was in Jerusalem, hence the al- Aqsa, meaning “the furthest.” Therefore, the Wailing Wall became pre-eminently a Muslim holy place, only available for Jewish visitation with permis- sion and under strict guidelines that would not connote indepen- dent worship or ownership of the Wall. In 1928, on Yom Kippur, Jews decided to bring benches and chairs to sit while they prayed, and they also brought a mechitza, in this case, a flimsy portable partition to separate men from women. This provoked outrage among Arabs, and the British even tried to pull chairs out from under people to force them to stand. The offense catapulted al- Hajj Muhammad Amin al- Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, to sudden internation- al Islamic importance as Muslims everywhere — from India to London — objected to Jews sitting. Husseini even con- vened an emergency internation- al conference of Muslims in Jerusalem to stop Jews from sit- ting at the Wall to pray. The Mufti and his machinery also began a nonstop protest movement against the perceived Jewish encroachment on the Wall. As the chief religious authority, it was Husseini who directed that the muezzin, the man who calls Muslims to prayer from the minaret, position him- self within earshot of the Wailing Wall pavement, and then dial the volume up to rile Jews during prayer and prove Islamic domi- nance. At the same time, it was Husseini who directed the revival of the cacophonous dhikr ceremony, complete with repeti- tive shouts of Allahu Akbar, as well as loud gongs and cymbals, once again, disrupting Jewish prayers with strategic noise. The Mufti also was the one who per- mitted mules to be herded through the Jewish prayer area, dropping dung and creating the feel and smell of what one Jerusalem newspaper termed “a latrine.” O n Aug. 15, 1929, when Jews again marked the holiday Tisha B’av by sitting, and also chanted “the Wall is ours,” the Arabs began yet another in a series of bloody massacres. The massacres in several cities cul- minated in unspeakable atroci- ties at Hebron. JEWISH WORLD • DECEMBER 24, 2010 3 continued on page 18 The Prayer That Brought Jihad A turning point in Arab anti-Semitism came at the Wailing Wall IN RETROSPECT It began in Jerusalem. With knives and clubs, the mob attacked every Jew in sight, burned Torah scrolls, and yanked supplication notes to God from the cracks in the Wall and set them aflame. In The Farhud, Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance During the Holocaust, Black recounts how in 1928 Jews dared to sit at the Wailing Wall while praying. “This simple act of prayer was so unacceptable to Arabs that it helped launch ... a global Islamic jihad, forged an Arab-Nazi alliance during the Holocaust, and still echoes today.” Al-Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, “used the Wall controversy to continue his campaign against the British and the Jews,” writes Black. In cooperation with Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the Mufti formed the Muslim Waffen-SS division, which was part of “a plan to exterminate all Jews in Palestine.” Here, al-Husseini (left) reviews the division’s Bosnian troops.
Transcript of The Prayer That Brought Jihad - farhudbook.com · Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti...
This article is drawn fromEdwin Black’s recently releasedbook, The Farhud, Roots of theArab-Nazi Alliance During theHolocaust (Dialog 2010).
As Israelis and Palestiniansstruggle with a 21st cen-tury peace process, the
world must face the forgotten his-tory that was so pivotal in deter-
mining the present crisis. In manyways, a turning point was the dayArabs massacred Jews becausethey dared to sit at the WailingWall while praying. This simpleact of prayer was so unacceptableto Arabs that it helped launch aworldwide crisis of hate that pro-voked a global Islamic jihad,forged an Arab-Nazi alliance dur-ing the Holocaust, and stillechoes today.
The year was 1929. JewishPalestine was still being set-
tled by torrents of easternEuropean refugees. The Leagueof Nations Mandate for Palestineincluded the provision for aJewish Homeland. The BalfourDeclaration, widely endorsed bymany nations, was a matter ofinternational law. But the Arabsin Palestine refused to co-existwith Jews in any way exceptwith the latter as second-classdhimmis.
Islam had been at war with theJewish people since its defininginception in 627 whenMohammad exterminated theJews of Mecca and launched theIslamic Conquest that sweptnorth and subsumed Syria-Palestina. For centuries, Jewsand Christians in Arab landswere allowed to exist as dhim-mis, second-class citizens withlimited religious rights. Theserestrictions were enforced by theTurks who, until World War I,ruled the geographically undeter-mined region known asPalestine, which includedJerusalem.
When the Ottoman Empirefell, after World War I ended in1918, the British were obligatedby the Mandate to maintain theTurkish status quo at the WailingWall. That status quo, accordingto numerous decrees underSharia, maintained that Jewscould pray at the Wailing Wall —the last remnant of the Temple —
only quietly and never sit, evenin the heat. Nor were Jewsallowed to separate men fromwomen during prayer. The Jewsrevered the Wailing Wall as theirholiest accessible place and adirect connection to God. But
under Turkish and Arab tradition,the Wailing Wall was not theJews’ holy site. Rather, it wasrevered by Muslims as al-Buraq,the place where Mohammadtethered his winged steed duringhis miraculous ascent to heaven.During that journey, according toIslamic tradition, Mohammadflew through the air on his mag-nificent horse to the furthestmosque. The furthest mosquewas in Jerusalem, hence the al-Aqsa, meaning “the furthest.”Therefore, the Wailing Wallbecame pre-eminently a Muslim
holy place, only available forJewish visitation with permis-sion and under strict guidelinesthat would not connote indepen-dent worship or ownership of theWall.
In 1928, on Yom Kippur, Jewsdecided to bring benches andchairs to sit while they prayed,and they also brought a mechitza,in this case, a flimsy portablepartition to separate men fromwomen. This provoked outrageamong Arabs, and the Britisheven tried to pull chairs out fromunder people to force them tostand. The offense catapulted al-Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti ofJerusalem, to sudden internation-al Islamic importance asMuslims everywhere — fromIndia to London — objected toJews sitting. Husseini even con-vened an emergency internation-al conference of Muslims inJerusalem to stop Jews from sit-ting at the Wall to pray.
The Mufti and his machineryalso began a nonstop protestmovement against the perceivedJewish encroachment on theWall. As the chief religiousauthority, it was Husseini whodirected that the muezzin, theman who calls Muslims to prayerfrom the minaret, position him-self within earshot of the WailingWall pavement, and then dial thevolume up to rile Jews duringprayer and prove Islamic domi-nance. At the same time, it wasHusseini who directed therevival of the cacophonous dhikr
ceremony, complete with repeti-tive shouts of Allahu Akbar, aswell as loud gongs and cymbals,once again, disrupting Jewishprayers with strategic noise. TheMufti also was the one who per-mitted mules to be herded
through the Jewish prayer area,dropping dung and creating thefeel and smell of what oneJerusalem newspaper termed “alatrine.”
On Aug. 15, 1929, when Jewsagain marked the holiday
Tisha B’av by sitting, and alsochanted “the Wall is ours,” theArabs began yet another in aseries of bloody massacres. Themassacres in several cities cul-minated in unspeakable atroci-ties at Hebron.
JEWISH WORLD • DECEMBER 24, 2010 3
continued on page 18
The Prayer That Brought JihadA turning point in Arab anti-Semitism came at the Wailing Wall
IN RETROSPECT
It began inJerusalem. With
knives and clubs,the mob attacked
every Jew in sight,burned Torah
scrolls, and yankedsupplication notes
to God from thecracks in the Wall
and set themaflame.
In The Farhud, Roots of the Arab-NaziAlliance During the Holocaust, Black
recounts how in 1928 Jews dared to sitat the Wailing Wall while praying. “This
simple act of prayer was so unacceptableto Arabs that it helped launch ... a global
Islamic jihad, forged an Arab-Nazi alliance during the Holocaust, and still
echoes today.”
Al-Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, “used the Wallcontroversy to continue his campaign against the British and the Jews,” writesBlack. In cooperation with Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the Mufti formed theMuslim Waffen-SS division, which was part of “a plan to exterminate all Jews inPalestine.” Here, al-Husseini (left) reviews the division’s Bosnian troops.
It began in Jerusalem. “Itbachal Yahood! Itbach al Yahood!”(Slaughter the Jews! Slaughterthe Jews!) With knives and clubs,the mob attacked every Jew insight, burned Torah scrolls, andyanked supplication notes to Godfrom the cracks in the Wall andset them aflame.
Attacks spread throughout theland over the following days.Jews were stabbed, shot, beatendown with rocks, maimed andkilled in various Jewish townsand suburbs. The chaos continuedfor days. With thousands of dag-ger- and club-wielding Arabsswarming throughout the cityhunting Jews, wire services trans-mitted headlines such as“Thousands of Peasants InvadedJerusalem and Raided all Parts ofthe City.”
Martial law was declared.Armored cars were brought infrom Baghdad. British airplanesswept in to machine-gun Arabmarauders. Violence continued tospread throughout Palestine. Jewsfought back and retaliated withbricks and bars and whatever they
could find. Then, on Aug. 23 and24, 1929, Hebron became abloody nightmare.
House to house, Arab mobswent, bursting into every roomlooking for hiding Jews.Religious books and scrolls wereburned or torn to shreds. Thedefenseless Jews were variouslybeheaded, castrated, their breastsand fingers sliced off, and insome cases their eyes pluckedfrom their sockets. Infant oradult, man or woman — it mat-tered not. The carnage went onfor hours, with the Arab police-men standing down — or joiningin. Blood ran in streamlets downthe narrow stone staircases out-side the buildings. House tohouse, room by room, the sav-agery was repeated.
One young boy, YosefLazarovski, later wrote of thehorror: “I remember a brown-skinned Arab with a large mus-tache breaking through the door.He had a large knife and an axethat he swung through the door-jambs until he broke through. [Hewas] full of fury, screaming,‘Allah Akbar!’ and ‘Itbach alYahood!’ … My grandfather triedto hold my hand, then [he tried] topush me aside [and hide me],screaming, ‘Shema Yisrael’ [the
most solemn Jewish prayer]. …And then I remember anotherArab … with an axe that hebrought down on my grandfa-ther’s neck.”
Not a single victim was simplykilled. Each was mutilated andtortured in accordance with theiridentities, the specific informa-tion provided by local Arabs. TheJewish man who lent money toArabs was sliced open and theIOUs burned in his body. TheJewish baker’s head was tied tothe stove and then baked. A
Jewish scholar who had studiedKoranic philosophy for years wasseized, his cranium cut open, andhis brain extracted. Another manwas nailed to a door. Some 67Jews were brutally murdered.
London dispatched specialinvestigative commissions whichdetermined that under the Shariastatus quo, Jews were not permit-ted to sit. Jews were even blamedfor provoking the massacres bydeliberately sitting.
The Mufti of Jerusalem usedthe Wall controversy to con-
tinue his campaign against theBritish and the Jews. As part ofthat war, the Mufti led a broadlyaccepted, international and pop-ularly accepted Arab and Islamicalliance with Nazi Germany.Eventually, when the Britishtried to arrest him, he fled toIraq. There, the Mufti and Naziagents helped inspire the 1941Farhud, a two-day spree ofkilling, looting and raping theJews of Baghdad.
Once the British finally helpedrestore order, the Mufti fledagain, this time to Germany,where he was taken under the per-sonal auspices of Adolf Hitler andHeinrich Himmler. The Muftiformed an 8,000-man plus
Muslim Waffen-SS division,which partnered with the blood-thirsty Ustasha in Croatia to com-mit the most heinous crimes inthe hell that was the Holocaust.The Ustasha wore Jewish eye-balls on necklaces. The alliancewith the Nazis spanned everyaspect of the war, from intelli-gence offices in Paris to plans, toparachute units, to artillery battal-ions, to a plan to exterminate allJews in Palestine. This alliancewas more than one man, the Muftiof Jerusalem — it was a move-ment of popular internationalIslamic fervor that stretchedacross the Middle East andEurope.
After the fall of Hitler, the lega-cy of hate continued in the post-war expulsions of a million Jewsfrom Arab lands. Periodically, thefervor that ignited the massacresof 1929 surfaces even today.Intifadas arise, riots erupt, and theArab rallying call, spoken andcollectively remembered, contin-ues to be in Jerusalem — whereJews should not be permitted tosit at the Wailing Wall when theypray.
Edwin Black is the author ofIBM and the Holocaust andBanking on Baghdad.
Jihadcontinued from page 3
18 JEWISH WORLD • DECEMBER 24, 2010
The alliance withthe Nazis wasmore than one
man, the Mufti ofJerusalem —
it was a movementof popular
international Islamic fervor thatstretched acrossthe Middle East
and Europe.
pink on Wednesday, Oct. 13 to helpraise breast cancer awareness. Inaddition to the unity in pink, PFFraised over $1,300 for Susan G.Komen for the Cure.
For the second leg of the campaign,we mobilized 30 volunteers to give uptheir Thanksgiving dinner with familyand instead help out at the Masbiakosher soup kitchen to ensure that thehomeless and poverty stricken don’tgo hungry. The volunteers arrived atMasbia at 9 a.m. for what promised tobe a busy and productive day. By 3p.m., PFF volunteers had peeled,sliced and prepared over 1,600 poundsof vegetables, enabling Masbia to feedhundreds more. In response to thetremendous Thanksgiving, Masbiafounder Alexander Rapaport proudlystated, “It is very inspiring to see teensdoing charity, with such devotion.There are lots of needy out there, andthere are lots of people with plenty outthere. Being aware of yourself, thatyou could be the one making a differ-ence is what counts; Philanthropy forthe Future knows exactly that.”
As the third and final leg of thecampaign, PFF ran a Hanukkah toydrive during which we collected over300 gifts in two weeks, which weredistributed between local needy fam-ilies and the Ohel toy drive.
To conclude the successful cam-paign, all the PFF volunteers went toNew York City for ice skating inBryant Park, dinner and the presenta-tion of a $1,350 check to Susan G.Komen for the Cure.
Last February, myself and a dedi-cated volunteer, Ben Pianko,
were afforded the opportunity to par-ticipate on an NCSY Jump trip to theJewish community in Kansas. Weattended the Kansas City communitychesed fair, which inspired a PFF pro-gram entitled A Chance to Give,which will come to middle schools inmid-2011. Bar and bat mitzvah agedstudents will have the opportunity tolearn about charitable organizations,donate their meiser (tithings) moneyto them and volunteer for them.
Through the NCSY Jump pro-gram, A Chance to Give was present-ed in front of a panel of DonaldTrump’s attorneys. Although it wasnot chosen for full funding, with
NCSY’s help and support it willbecome a mainstay program in theJewish community. AChance to Giveis a unique program that brings giv-ing and charity into the hearts of theyoung and builds a concrete founda-tion for their future giving.
Philanthropy for the Future recog-nizes the ability of every individual tochange the world and make animpact. Whether it’s a 14-year-oldstarting his own organization or a 40-year-old funding an existing organi-zation, everyone has it in them tomake a difference.
For more information onPhilanthropy for the Future, howyou can get involved, to request ser-vices or start a club in your school,call 516.695.0720 or [email protected].
Yaacov Hawk, founder ofPhilanthropy for the Future, is asophomore at DRS Yeshiva HighSchool for Boys in Woodmere.
Givecontinued from page 14
FF’s first project mobilized teens to raise $300 in one day to buy Hanukkah gifts for alocal family whose father died suddenly before the holiday, leaving behind three small children.
Phot
os: P
hila
nthr
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for t
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Just One Life, an organization dedicated to helping Jewish women inIsrael bring their pregnancies to term even in the face of emotional or
medical difficulties, held its annual benefit at the New York StockExchange on Dec. 13.
The organization was founded by a group of rabbis, physicians andsocial workers in New York and Israel to meet the pressing challengesfacing pregnant women in Israel. Visit www.justonelife.org for details.
JUST ONE LIFE
Rabbi Etan Tokayer (right), executive vice president, Just One Life,presents the One Angel Award to Simon Jacobson at the Historic BellPodium overlooking the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
(L-r): Jacobson; Ken Norensberg, CEO, Luxor Capital; and Tokayer onthe Historic Bell Podium.
Phot
os: J
ust O
ne L
ife
