Amin Haj al-Husseini, who was appointed “grand mufti” of Jerusalem in 1921, gained infamy for his violent opposition to Zionism and his friendship with Heinrich Himmler. Boris Havel argues that Husseini also played an important role in bringing anti-Semitism to the Muslim world through such wartime works as the pamphlet Islam and Judaism:
[T]he pamphlet introduces [new ideas] into Islamic political discourse regarding the Jews. By combining the Islamic canon with pre-Christian and Christian anti-Judaism, it . . . [portrays Jews] as far more cunning and successful in their vicious designs than previous mainstream Islamic thought had recognized. . . . [One] example of this anti-Jewish eclecticism can be found in the mufti’s accusation that Jews brought plague to Arabia. This statement evokes medieval European myths with similar themes. . . .
[T]he mufti . . . traces Jewish accomplishments of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s . . . to supposed Jewish activities at the time of Muhammad. In doing so, he created a precedent later followed by prominent Islamic actors in the Middle East and elsewhere, particularly after Israel’s stunning military victories over its Arab adversaries. Thus Hamas accuses the Jews of “wiping out the Islamic caliphate” by starting World War I, starting the French and the Communist revolutions, establishing “clandestine organizations,” and [employing their] financial power to colonize, exploit, and corrupt countries.
Read more at Middle East Quarterly
More about: Anti-Semitism, Arab anti-Semitism, History & Ideas, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Nazis, Quran