Palestine's hero: Adolf Hitler

PMW - Hitler: Hero of Voice of Palestine Contest
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook,

"His golden year was 1940, when his armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium and defeated France ... By mid 1942, his country controlled the largest land area in Europe… He refused to surrender and continued to fight for two more years, but, his bitter end came in the spring of 1945 when he took his own life…. Who is he?" [From Voice of Palestine radio contest, Nov. 27, 2007]

This text is just part of the official Palestinian radio Ramadan quiz that was rebroadcast this past week. The full broadcast presents Hitler heroically, detailing his 2 Medals' of Honor in World War 1, his rise to power, his launching of World War 2 and specifies country after country that he conquered.

His victories in 1940 are coined "his golden year", while his defeat and death are coined: "his bitter end." Not surprisingly, though citing his victories and "bitter" fall in great detail, the Holocaust is not mentioned. This is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history. See recent full PMW report and bulletin on new 12th grade Palestinian history schoolbook, in which many pages are dedicated to the history of World War 2 and even to Nazi racism, but neither Jews nor the Holocaust are mentioned.

It may be surprising to Western observers to see official Palestinian radio presenting Hitler heroically. But it is important to understand that the revulsion of Hitler expected in the West is not mirrored in Palestinian society. Palestinians can be found who are named "Hitler" as a first name: Hitler Salah [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 28, 2005], Hitler Abu-Alrab [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Jan. 27, 2005], Hitler Mahmud Abu-Libda [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Dec.18, 2000.]

The following is the full text of the "Voice of Palestine" contest in which guessing Hitler's name will win a prize of 600 Shekel, followed by a selection of past articles from both Fatah and Hamas newspapers that have demonstrate Hitler's admired status.

Voice of Palestine – official Palestinian Authority radio, Nov. 27, 2007

"Dear listeners, welcome to the 20th session of the Ramadan Educational Quiz: He was a leader and politician, born in 1889 in Braunau, Austria. He served in the German army during the First World War, was wounded in service and awarded two Medals of Honor. He joined a small right-wing party in Munich and became the head of this party without a struggle within two years. In 1923, he attempted to execute a coup but failed. He was arrested, imprisoned and released after serving a year in prison.

"In 1933 he became his country’s Chancellor, and used the state's mechanisms to crush his political opponents. He earned his popularity by succeeding to lower unemployment rates and to generate an economic recovery in his country. Later he prepared his country for the Second World War.

"His golden year was 1940, when his armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium and defeated France in June 1940. That year Britain managed to withstand the attacks of his Air Force and he missed the victory over Britain. His armies conquered Greece and Yugoslavia in 1941. That year he violated the non-belligerency treaty and attacked Russia. His armies took control of vast Soviet areas. His armies were defeated in Stalingrad. He declared war on the United States in 1941.

"By mid 1942, his country controlled the largest land area in Europe and large parts of North Africa. The turning point of the war occurred late in 1942, when his forces were defeated in the Battle of Al-Alamein. He refused to surrender and continued to fight for two more years, but, his bitter end came in the spring of 1945 when he took his own life, and his country surrendered a week later. Who is he? Answers should be sent to the address: Ramallah … Voice of Palestine, …the first prize is 600 NIS."

Admiration of Hitler in the Palestinian Authority newspapers

A Palestinian newspaper chronicled with pride the ways in which different foreign leaders singled out the Palestinians as examples of ideal revolutionaries. The first leader cited for praising by the Palestinians was Adolf Hitler: "Adolf Hitler, while exciting the Germans of the Sudetenland - the Sudetenland is a German province that the Allies had annexed to Czechoslovakia after the First World War - told them in his broadcasts: Look at what the Palestinian revolutionaries are doing to Great Britain!!" [Al-Rissala (Hamas Weekly), May 18, 2006]

The phenomenon of Palestinians being named after Hitler, cited above, was explained in an article in the official Palestinian Authority daily praising the rewriting of history and the doing of "justice" to Hitler: "Even Adolf Hitler, who after the fall of Nazi Germany turned into a political horror for most of the writers and artists, during the last decades has started to return himself to his part of the picture. There are some in Britain who defended Hitler and tried to do justice for him.

There are elderly people, among them Arabs, who still carry the name Hitler since their fathers, who were charmed by him, linked them [their children] with his name." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), April 13, 2000] One article explained the phenomenon of naming Palestinians after admired foreign leaders - such as Napoleon and the Nazi General Rommel:

"Sometimes parents name their children with foreign names, due to the father's admiration to a foreign personality. This is the source of the names: Rommel [famous Nazi General] and Napoleon." [Al-Ayyam, November 15, 2001 "Woman's Voice" supplement.]

The admiration for Hitler is consistent with the status of Mein Kampf, which a PA daily cited as a book on the best sellers' list. [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 2, 1999]. [Husseini inspects Nazi troops] [Hitler with Husseini] A contributing factor to this admiration may be the history of the Hitler - Arab alliance during World War 2.

The Arab leader in British Palestine, the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, was actively allied with Hitler. The numerous meetings between the Mufti and Hitler are well documented. Finally, the PA daily published an interview with an elderly Lebanese which described the man's professed friendship with Hitler, as well as his pride in fighting for Hitler: And whereas this is a personal account whose historical accuracy is not important, what is significant is the positive, even proud attitude about his friendship with Hitler, that is being expressed so routinely.

Interview with Sheikh Ali Hussain Abu-Ibrahim, a Palestinian resident of Lebanon who claims he is 116 years old: "Question: What are the important events in your life that left the biggest impression? Answer: The first was the Hitler event. I met him in Jerusalem in one of the Turkish Army camps, and the friendship between us was very tight. At the time I was a sergeant while Hitler was a simple private. The relationship between us tightened even more once Turkey entered the war together with Germany. The second event was when I participated [with the Nazi army] in entering France and conquering it. I was in charge of the cannon that shelled Paris, which had an active influence on the fall of the French capital and its conquest without any notable resistance. Hitler congratulated me on this shelling and its consequences… As an artillery officer I took part in many operations against the English and France, until the end of the Second World-War …" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), May 12, 2003.]

Clearly, the name Hitler does not have the stigma in PA society that it has in the West. Indeed, not only the Hamas daily, but the Fatah controlled PA dailies as well, have written in favorable tones about Hitler. To some Palestinians the man and his name are sources of admiration. Day after Annapolis: Palestinian Authority TV shows" Palestine" map erasing Israel by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - November 28, 2007

Just a day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Annapolis peace conference pledged to negotiate a peace treaty by the end of 2008, Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority continues to paint a picture for its people of a world without Israel. An information clip produced by the Palestinian Authority Central Bureau of Statistics and rebroadcast today on Abbas-controlled Palestinian television, shows a map in which Israel is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, symbolizing Israel turned into a Palestinian state.

The description of all of the state of Israel as "Palestine" is not coincidental, and is part of a formal, systematic educational approach throughout the Palestinian Authority. This uniform message of a world without Israel is repeated in school books, children's programs, crossword puzzles, video clips, formal symbols, school and street names, etc. The picture painted for the Palestinian population, both verbally and visually, is of a world without Israel. The fact that this campaign continues before the ink on the Annapolis agreement is even dry appears to contradict the central promise of the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference: that Israel has a right to exist.

Singing to Israel's destruction by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook- October 29, 2007 While the Palestinian Authority announces in English its demand for a two-state solution, to its own people in Arabic it continues to define all of Israel as "Palestine," and to promise Israel's destruction. A new video clip, broadcast numerous times daily since it first appeared on Fatah-controlled TV last week, passionately promises "Mother" that every Israeli city will be "liberated" because its "identity is Arab" and "Palestinian”: "We will liberate the Land… [which] is Arab in history and identity, Palestine is Arab in history and identity."

To ensure that no one limits the land of the future "liberated Palestine," the song defines the scope of Palestinian cities, which include all of Israel: "From Jerusalem and Acre and from Haifa and Jericho and Gaza and Ramallah From Bethlehem and Jaffa and Be'er Sheva and Ramle And from Nablus to the Galilee, and from Tiberias to Hebron” This is significant not only because it was broadcast on Fatah TV, but because the constant repetition of this clip promising Israel's destruction comes at the very time that the world is preparing for a peace conference.

Arafat's Palestinian Authority was notorious for this duplicity. It signaled its real beliefs and intentions only in Arabic, while in English it said what the West and Israel needed to hear to sustain what is widely recognized today as a deceptive peace process. Arafat was successful, with Israel repeatedly giving in to his demands. Israel paid dearly for its trust in Arafat's English pronouncements, with more than 1,000 killed and tens of thousands wounded in the Palestinian Authority-led terror war. Today's leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was Arafat's right hand man and partner during the first duplicity period. To Israel and the U.S. in English, he is talking peace. To his people in Arabic, through his TV and schoolbooks , he is promoting hatred and promising the destruction of Israel.