The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Politics of Palestine

Key takeaways

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Reading notes

• Muhammad Amin al-Husayni (1895-1974) has been portrayed as a mufti that led the revolts of 1920's and 1930's and at the same time portrayed as a Muslim fanatic whose extremism was largely responsible for the disaster of 1948

• Arab and zionist scholars converge on one point- his political prominence during the mandate period

• Arab scholars like Zuhar Mardini were satisfied with oral histories and unpublished sources

• Zionist scholars such as Joseph B. Schechtman relied on the western press, with no familiarity with the Mufti, Islam, Arabic, or Palestinian society

• Another problem is that there is an ahistorical assumption that the muftis behaviours and actions were unchanged throughout his life

• Two phases of his life; Palestine phase of 1917-36 which saw caution and cooperation with British, and the Exile phase after 1936 which saw bitterness and inflexibility

• The Palestine Years

• The Husayini family was one of the most prominent of urban families who dominated politics of Palestine

• Power base both in the rural areas and city centres

• Defenders of the status quo

• It was Salim al-Husayini mayor of Jerusalem who handed the key of the city over to the British military administration (1917-20)

• Al-Husayni as Nationalist Leader

• After returning from Turkey where the mufti server in the Ottoman army during WW1, he helped a British officer recruit 2,000 Arabs for the last stages of war against the ottomans

• Believing that Palestine was to become part of an Arab state

• This cooperation and his name was why Sir Herbert Samuel considered Amin in April 1921 for the office of Mufti

• ''his earnest desire to cooperate with the government'' Norman Bentwich

• Appointed Mufti in January of 1922 and president of the Supreme Muslim Council

• Gave him power over courts, schools, mosques, annual revenue of Palestine £50,000

• Samuel considered the Mufti to be a ''modest man''

• In August 1922 he joined in opposing the formation of a legislative council proposed by Samuel

• Acceptance of a council was feared to be acceptance of British mandate and support for a Jewish national home

• Council would have seen 43 per cent of membership giving to Palestinians even though they constituted 88 per cent of the population and it forbade discussion of political matters

• Samuel then proposed an Advisory Council of similar composition- that too was rejected

• These two oppositions were not as significant in 1922 and 1923 as many assume

• Political affairs of palestinians were managed by the Palestine Arab Execuative under Musa Kazim al-husayni who has been mayor of jerusalemn from 1918-20

• The mufti was too new to his job and too busy with religious matters to have an impact on this affair

• It was not until 1929 that the mufti became the political leader of palestinians

• Serving Two Masters

• The Mufti's rise coincided with the decline of the Executive and the perception he stood up to Zionists during the 1929 Western Wall riots (his role is exaggerated)

• Arab historians like Izzat Darwaja argue that the Mufti used the despite to reactivate the national movement and Israeli scholars like Yehoshua Porath claim the Mufti exploited what ''seemed to them a Jewish provocation, in order to intensify the struggle against the Jews''  and this aggression resulted in ''the disturbances of August 1929''

• Fits nicely with the Arab view that the Mufti was aggressively resisting Zionism

• And with the Zionist view that the mufti caused the violence

• There is no solid evidence that indicates the Mufti was involved in the outbreaks of August 23

• Mufti delivered a speech at the Temple Mount, and then asked people to remain calm and return home

• Sent word to the British to increase number of units around the Damascus gate

• When violence broke out he asked Arabs to arm themselves with ''mercy, wisdom and patience, for (verily God is with those who bear themselves in patience''

• The Shaw Commission reached the following conclusions;

• Cause of violence was revisionist Zionist demonstration of august 15, 1929

• Was spontaneous

• Took place in several towns where the Mufti was weak

• A letter that was apparently from the Mufti that called for violence was a fake

• From 1929 to 1936 the Mufti cooperated with the British whilst attempting to change British policy

• Assured John Chancellor third high commissioner) in October 1929 ''one who was, in a sense, an officer of the State''

• When Shakib Wahab approached the Mufti to organise bands for a guerrilla campaign the mufti rejected the offer stating he was seeking a political solution instead

• The muftis moderation is shown in the emergence of a draft settlement providing for the establishment of a parliament in which Jews and Arabs would be proportionally represented

• Zionists rejected this plan

• Passfield white paper of October 1930 did meet Palestinian demands on immigration and land purchases, but was a result of the Show and Simpson commissions rather than the Mufti

• This was withdrawn with the black letter in 1931 however

• Mufti organised a General Islamic Congress in December 1931 but the effect was negligible

• Number of efforts by the Mufti were unsuccessful

• General strike held by the Executive in October 1933 while the Mufti was out of the country resulted in 25 deaths

• Politicla parties, private/public protests all failed to curb immigration

• High Commissioner Arthur WAUCHOPE noted ''I am confident that the Mufti likes me, respects me and is anxious to help me… but he fears that criticism of his many opponents that he is too British may weaken his influence in the country. The fact, however, that his influence is on the side of moderation is of definite value''

• British report of 1935 suggested that Palestinian political leaders will find themselves forced to adopt extremist policy in orde to restore prestige and to satisfy public opinion

• The Husaynis belonged to a patrician class that was deeply ingrained in the practice of cooperation with imperial power to guarantee status quo

• Mufti admired what he saw as British fairness and sense of justice

• Mufti believed that the British were too strong to oppose successfully and that in any case their presence would be transitory

• He also thought that Britain's pro-Zionist policy would change when they realised that their interests lay with the Muslim and Arab countries and not the Zionists

• The Arab Revolt: A Turning Point

• From 1921-1936 the Mufti served both the British and the Palestinians

• Managed to pacify the first with pledges of loyalty and the second with religious and political rhetoric

• By the early 1930's increasing anti-British attitude forced the mufti into choosing one of the two

• In 1932 moderate policy was challenged by the leaders of the Istiqlal party

• Seen as dedicated nationalists

• Mufti could not repel the radical spirit of the new radical movement

• Found expression in the religious organisation led by  Izz al-Din al-Qassam

• Founded a mosque in the north that trained troops and workers

• Asked the Mufti to start a revolution in the south that he could aid in the north

• The mufti refused

• By 1935 al-Qassam went to villages to convince them to rise up, he with others fought to the end on November 21, 1935

• His death sent rage and grief throughout Palestine

• When Violence spread in April 15-19 1936 a general strike also spread

• He resisted calls for him to lead the strike for 10 days when he accepted and became leader of the new Arab Higher Committer

• Tried to contain the violence but it had a life of its won

• Several events saw further radicalisation of the Mufti

• 1937 British submitted a plan to partition Palestine between groups; Zionists and Hashemites

• He continued the revolt in disagreement of this plan which saw him stripped of office and arrested him as part of the violence

• The Exile Years

• Escaped to Lebanon in 1937 and continued to lead the revolt

• By 1938 many cities were taken by rebels

• Palestinians paid a high price fro the revolt in terms of economy and military/political structure

• The Mufti had periods of depression and thought of suicide in 1939 as reported by Gabriel Puaux the French High Commissioner for the Levant

• Unwillingness to compromise was seen in his reject of the 1939 white paper

• Escaped to Iraw in October 1939

• Attempted to encourage a pan-Arab challenge to British control

• Prospect of a revolt in Iraq alarmed three parties; Zionists, Hashemites, and the British

• Rutenburg travelled to London in 1940 to urge the British to assassinate the Mufti

• Winston Churchill approved a plan to have him assassinated

• Members of the Irgun were flown to Iraq in 1941 to carry out the assassination but the mission was aborted when the leader was killed by a German plane

• Mufti escaped to Iran and then to Axis countries- first to Italy, then to Germany

• The Mufti and the Axis Powers

• Zionists exaggerated his connections with Nazis and Arabs were so busy justifying his actions that they ignored the fact that he did indeed cooperate with the Nazi regime

• Meet only once with Hitler in November 1941, the mufti stressed for a public statement by the Axis supporting full independence for the Arab word

• In a secret pact in April 1942 both Italy and Germany agreed to ''grant to the Arab countries… aid in their fight for liberation''

• This commitment meant the Mufti began to assist in the war effort

• His propaganda and military efforts however were either unsuccessful or insignificant

• A statement sent by Rudolf Kasztner was sent in which he quoted Adolf Eichmann as saying in response to a request for the emigration of Hungarian Jews to Palestine ''I am a personal friend of the Grand Mufti. We have promised him that no European Jew would enter Palestine anymore''

• Also quotes a colleague of Eichmann, Dieter Wisliceny ''According to my opinion, the Grand Mufti who has been in Berlin since 1941 played a role in the decision of the German government to exterminate the European Jews''

• These documents were not taken seriously by the British

• No evidence has been produced to validate these claims

• After the war he flew to Switzerland but was turned over to the French where he was placed on residential observation and in May 1946 escaped before an Irgun assassination took place

• After the 1948 war Palestinian allegiance shifted from the mufti to Nasser

• Gradually

• Initially refused to relinquish leadership of the Palestine movement to the PLO in 1964 but with the rise of Arafat in 1969 he reconciled