“(They are) further fueling the political issue into a religious one, and underscoring his commitment to the continued occupation and violence against Palestinians”.
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Netanyahu made his comments only hours before his scheduled visit to Germany, where his host Chancellor Angela Merkel told him in a joint press conference that “Germany abides by its responsibility for the Holocaust. He wanted to expel the Jews”, Netanyahu said. This protocol does not include a question by Hitler such as “what should I do with the Jews?” – does it contain advice by the Mufti, as quoted by Netanyahu, “Burn them!”
“The Mufti indeed was definitely an anti-Semite”, she said.
In championing a maverick approach to history, Netanyahu is following in the footsteps of his late father, Benzion Netanyahu, whose views on Marranos, medieval Spanish Jews forced to convert to Christianity, were rejected by a majority of his colleagues.
“This is taught in German schools for good reason, it must never be forgotten”. Critics also said the statement amounts to incitement against modern-day Palestinians in the midst of a wave of violent unrest and high tensions.
Speaking before the Zionist Congress Tuesday night, Netanyahu said, “Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time; he wanted to expel the Jews”. Netanyahu tried to calm the uproar and clarify himself prior to his departure.
And must we really criticize Netanyahu for reminding us (again) of just how important a Jewish State is?
Israel’s opposition leader Isaac Herzog added his voice to the criticisms, accusing Mr Netanyahu of a “dangerous historical distortion” that plays into the hands of Holocaust deniers.
The “Wisliceny hearsay is not merely uncorroborated, but conflicts with everything else that is known about the origins of the Final Solution”, Rafael Medoff, the head of the Washington, DC-based David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, wrote in a 1996 article for the Journal of Israeli History.
“It downplays the Holocaust, Nazism and the role of Adolf Hitler in the great tragedy of our people”, he said. These attackers, Arab attackers, murdered several Jews, including our celebrated writer Brenner. Fearing that the premier’s mystifying claim might be interpreted as the denial of Germany’s leading role in the Holocaust, a German government spokesperson reiterated that Amin al-Husseini was not behind the final solution. He flew to Berlin. Hitler did not need an Arab (or other) leader to suggest the “final solution”. “Hilter is the one who made the decision”, he said.
“‘So what should I do with them?’ he [Hitler] asked. He said, “Burn them”.
In Britain, Jews for Justice for Palestinians diplomatic and parliamentary liaison officer Arthur Goodman pointed out that Avraham Stern, leader of the Lehi Zionist terror group, met a representative of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1940, and later sent an envoy to nazi Germany.
During and after the 1967 War, the Israeli conquest of new Palestinian and Arab territories was constructed as an answer to this state of permanent emergency.
The same article concludes: “It is a sad irony that Netanyahu is distorting the history of the Holocaust in order to shift blame to the Palestinians, but it makes sense in the context of his politics. But the absurdity of the claim may backfire on him”.
Unfortunately for Netanyahu, even the Israeli media has projected the statement as quite absurd. The meeting between Husseini and Hitler in Berlin took place on November 28, 1941. Haaretz said Netanyahu was “widely ridiculed”.
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Critics pounced on Netanyahu’s remarks, saying he was excusing the Nazis of their responsibility for the Holocaust.
