There are the imperialist interests and aims at the basis of the conflict between Muslims and Jews as in the history of the Crusades. These two communities who were in peace until the Second World War, are perceived as two nemeses.
Muslims and Jews lived side by side in the same cities and in the neighborhoods during Ottoman period, almost 500 years. Synagogues and mosques were within walking distance. They are doing business and neighborhood in peace with each other.
There wasn’t an extreme hostility even in the first years of political Zionism. Theodor Herzl made a friendly conversation with Abdulhamid II (Ottoman Sultan) on May 19, 1901. When Herzl requested a homeland in Palestine, Ottoman Sultan welcomed him and proposed Urfa, Syria or the land between the Tigris and Euphrates instead of Palestine.[1] If you investigate written sources of Muslim and Jewish, you can see clearly that there was no animosity between the two communities.
Despite there has been a peace environment between Muslims and Jews in the Islamic World, there were extensive hostility between Jews and Christians in Europe. Especially Jews who were living in continental Europe states, were third class society who were hated by others. Ghetto Concept was not emerged in the Islamic World but it was expressed in Europe in the meaning of an open prison. Leon Pinsker who was from Russia, was putting it that way: “Generally, he is treated as an adopted child whose rights may be questioned, never is he considered a legitimate child of the fatherland. The German, proud of his Teutonic character, the Slav, the Celt, not one of them admits that the Semitic Jew is his equal by birth; and even if he be ready, as a man of culture, to admit him to all civil rights, he will never go as far as to garget the Jew in this, his fellow citizen. The legal emancipation of the Jews is the crowning achievement of our century. But legal emancipation is not social emancipation, and with the proclamation of the former the Jews are still far from being emancipated from their exceptional social position.” (The Zionist Idea)[2]
Jews who were marginalized from Europe, began to return to Palestine before the First World War. Jews who came to Palestine in this period, settled the lands by purchasing from Arabs here.
First hostility between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East began with the invasion of Jerusalem and the acceleration of colonization by the British army after 1917. The United Kingdom’s aim was to establish an Ally State on the Mediterranean coast and to open a transit corridor from Iraq oilfields and India to the Mediterranean.
Turkish army had withdrawn from this area because Arabs cooperated with foreign forces and they are showing hostility to Turkish soldiers. After the First World War, the biggest rival of the United Kingdom became also Germany. With the Nazi era, Germany set her sight on the Middle East again.
Hitler’s Mein Kampf was translated into Arabic and distributed in Beirut, Baghdad and Cairo in 1933 – 1939.[3] Grand Mufti Emin Al-Hussein met with Wilhelm Canaris, the director of German Military Intelligence in 1938. They agreed to cooperate against Jews. Likewise, Nazi Diplomat Fritz Grobber met with Hussein in Damascus and subsidized him.[4]
According to Bernard Lewis: Syria was a Nazi intelligence and propaganda center in the Arab world before the Second World War. Germans seized Iraqi Management by way of Prime Minister Rashid Ali Gailani in 1940. Gailani was overturned by the British and was forced to flee to Berlin. Before the Second World War, Hitler posters which are written over “in God’s heaven under command of Hitler”, began to be seen on the streets of Aleppo, Homs and Damascus.[5]
According to the new sources which were compiled by NSA after the 2000s: There had had been deep ties between Arap nationalists and the Nazis. Germans had been regularly making payment of monthly to Hussein as 50,000, to Gailani as 80,000 for operational expenses. During this period, A German field marshal’s salary was 26,500 marks per year. Hussein and Gailani were believing that Islam and Nazism have common values and common enemy.[6]
After Second World War, German interests were protected by the Gehlen Organization. As is known, Reinhard Gehlen who was chief of the German Military Intelligence, and some friends entered the United States’ service at the end of Second World War and carried out the establishment of the CIA. In our opinion, while Gehlen on the one hand was laying the foundations of CIA, on the other hand was supporting old Nazi officers and ODESSA organization.
According to a CIA document, When Dr. Wilhelm Beisner who was the most important Middle east expert of Nazi Germany, went to Cairo on 21 July 1951, he was the representative of a Hamburg firm called Terramar and that he offered his services to the Gehlen Organization.[7]
After the Second World War, Germany quit from the Middle East scene and Russia took the place of her. Following this period, Gehlen established hidden connection with Russian intelligence service and sent old Nazi officers to Egypt and Syria. Nazi officers became the most important military and intelligence advisers of the pro-Soviet Arab leaders. These Nazi officers who settled in the period of King Farouk had a significant share in coming to power of Nasser in 1956. Nasser had set up a special intelligence unit under Zechariah Muhiddin who was in Beisner team.
Germany which could not sever all ties with Nazi era, maintained close ties with both Sunni and Shiite Radical Islamic organizations after her merging with the eastern part in 1989. A secret agreement was made between Germany and Iran about training of Iranian secret services agents in 1991. This relationship was reinforced with a secret high-level meeting on October 17, 1993. Ali Fallahian who was the chief of Iranian Intelligence Service, was hosted in Kohl’s private office in Bonn and held a series of meetings with Bernard Schmidbauer who was Kohl’s security coordinator.[8] Their bilateral trade volume was highest rank in despite of embargos. According to popular belief that Rafsanjani who assumed the leadership of Iran, was from German school.
German BND Intelligence Agency contributed greatly about Hezbollah organizations of Iran in Turkiye and Arab countries. Hezbollah organizations organized on the basis of the German cell structure. Germany became the most important supporters of political and radical Islamist organization in Egypt and North Africa. German governments and intelligence services played a significant role about the radicalization of the Muslim Brotherhood organization after Hasan Al-Banna, the supporting of the National Vision Movement of Turkiye, the spreading of antisemitism and Hitler’s admiration, the translating of Hitler’s book and the provocation of Muslim – Jewish conflict in the Middle East.
In particular, the Syrian governments didn’t finish with old Nazi officers and war criminals. As recently as 2010, Alois Brunner who died in Damascus was a war criminal and held responsible for the death of 128.000 Jews. Brunner came to Syria in 1950 and served Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar al-Assad. He taught torture and conflict methods to the Syrian Mukhabarat (Intelligence Service) and the PKK Terrorist organization which was in Syria from 1979 to 2000’s.[9] The photo exhibition which was about 11,000 people were killed by torture and exhibited at the United Nations building, was just a small example of this atrocity.
Today as it was yesterday, Germany intelligence services is supporting Hezbollah, Iran, Assad Management and some radical Islamist groups in the Middle East.
Within this scope, we know well that the Muslim and Jewish Conflict is only political tool and tactic at the war of imperialist powers. Muslims and Jews are not hostile societies till doomsday. If mistakes are repaired, every two communities can live in peace. In this regard, the Prophets Muhammad’s Medina Agreement which was carried out between Muslims and Jews in the first years of Islam, is a good example for peace. The following items may be true today also:
- Muslim and Jewish communities will live in peace.
- in the attacks outside the city, Muslims and Jews act in unison about the city defense.
- Jews would be free about their religion.
- If anyone attacks anyone who is a party to this Pact the other must come to his help.
- Each community will be responsible for its own region.
Muslims and Jews should end this war which are the conflicts of interests of the imperialist powers.
Appendix: Old Nazis in Egypt and Syria which were pro-Soviet.
| Real and post-war names | Under Hitler | After the war |
| Altern Erich
(Ali Bella) |
Regional Chief SD (Himmler’s Security Services), Jewish Affairs in Galicia | In Egypt during the 50’s, then instructor in Palestinian camps. |
| Appler Hans
(Sakah Chaffar) |
Information services with Goebbels | Egypt 1956: Minister of Information |
| Bartel Franz
(El Hussein) |
Assistant Chief of the Kattowitz Gestapo (Poland) | Since 1959, Jewish Affairs of the Ministry of Information in Cairo. |
| Baurnann | Participated in liquidation of Jewish Warsaw ghetto | Minister of War in Cairo. Instructor for the FLP (Liberation Front of Palestine) |
| Bayerlein, Col. Fritz | Rommel’s camp aid | Egypt |
| Becher Hans | Gestapo Jewish affairs, Vienna | Alexandria, Egypt. Police instructor |
| Beissner, Dr Wilhelm | Section Chief VI C 13RSHA | Egypt |
| Bender Bernhardt
(Bechir Ben Salah) |
Gestapo, Warsaw | Consultant for Political Police in Cairo |
| Birgel Werner
(El Gamin) |
SS Officer | Cairo, Egypt. Worked in Ministry of Information |
| Boeckler Wilhelm | Wanted in Poland for the liquidation of the Jewish Warsaw ghetto. | Egypt since 1949. Worked in Israel Department of Information Bureau in Egypt. |
| Boerner, Wilhelm
(Ali Ben Keshir) |
Guard at Mauthausen concentration camp. | Worked at Egyptian Interior Ministry. Also instructor of the FLP (Liberation Front of Palestine) |
| Brunner Alois
(Georg Fisher and Ali Mohammed) |
In charge of deportation of Jews in Austria, Tchecoslovakia, Greece. Chief of Drancy concentration camp in France. | Damascus, Syria. Consultant for Special Services. Protected against extradition by Syrian government. |
| Buble Friedrich
(Ben Amman) |
Gestapo | Director of Egyptian Public Relations Department -1952. Consultant for Egyptian police force. |
| Bunsch Franz | Collaborator with Goebbels | Israel Department in the Information Ministry in Cairo, Egypt. |
| Daemling Joachim
(Jochen Dressel or Ibrahim Mustapha) |
Dusseldorf Chief of Gestapo | Consultant for Egyptian penitentiary system. Active member of Radio-Cairo (Radio-Le Caire) |
| Dirlewanger Oskar | Chief of 36th Waffen SS division (USSR-Poland) | Some say in Cairo since 1950. Others claim that he died June 7 1945 in Germany under house-arrest. |
| Eisele Dr Hans | Chief doctor of Buchenwald concentration camp. | Died in Cairo in 1965. |
| Farmbacher Wilhelm | Wehrmacht Eastern Front, Supervisor of Vlassov Army in France in 1944 | Military consultant for Egyptian President Nasser. |
| Gleim Leopold
(Al Nashar) |
Unit Chief in Warsaw | High ranking officer in Egyptian national security department, in charge of political prisoners. |
| Gruber
(Aradji) |
Canaris recruit in 1924. Egyptian resident | 1950: Influential agent within the Arab League |
| Heiden Ludwig
(El Hadj) |
Journalist for anti-Jewish agency Weltdienst (NSDAP) | Converted to Islam. Translator of Mein Kampf into Arabic. Lived in Egypt in the 1950’s. |
| Heim, Heribert | Medical doctor at Mauthausen concentration camp | Became medical doctor for Egyptian police. |
| Hitholfer Franz | High ranking officer of Gestapo in Vienna | Lived in Egypt in 1950’s |
| Von Leers, Dr Johannes
(Omar Amin) |
Goebbels’ assistant, in charge of anti-Semitic propaganda. | In Egypt, he was in charge of anti-Israeli propaganda in Cairo since 1955. |
| Luder, Karl | Chief of Hitler Youth movement. Held responsible for anti-Semitic crimes in Poland. | War Minister in Egypt. |
| Mildner, Rudolf | Gestapo Chief in Kattowitz. Chief of police in Denmark. | In Egypt since 1963. Member of Deutscher Rat organization. |
| Moser Alois | Wanted in USSR for crimes against Jews. | Instructor of paramilitary youth groups in Cairo. |
| Munzel Oskar | SS General | Military consultant Cairo, during the 50’s. |
| Nimzel Gerd von.
(Ben Ali) |
Egypt. 1950’s. | |
| Oltramare, Georges
(Charles Dieudonne) |
Director of Pilori in France during German occupation | Responsible for TV show ‘La voix des Arabes’ (The voice of Arabs) in Cairo. Died 1960. |
| Peschnik Aehim Dieter
(El-Said) |
Resides in Egypt | |
| Rademacher Granz
(Thome Rossel) |
1940-43. Headed Anti-Jewish section of Foreign Affairs Ministry. | Journalist in Damascus. |
| Rauff, Walter | Chief of SD (Himmler’s Security Services) in Tunisia. | In Syria until 1961. Was arrested and released in Chili in 1962. |
| Seipel.
(Emmd Zuher) |
Gestapo in Paris. | Converted to Islam. Security Services with Interior Ministry in Cairo. |
| Sellman, Heinrich
(Hassan Suleiman) |
Chief of Gestapo in Ulm. | Ministry of Information in Cairo. Egyptian Special Services. |
| Thiemann, Albert
(Amman Kader) |
SS officer in Tchecoslovakia | Information Ministry in Cairo. |
| Weinmann, Erich, | Chief of SD(Himmler’s Security Services) in Prague. | Said to have died in 1949. In fact, he became consultant to Alexandria’s police force in Egypt. |
[1] Manaz, Abdullah. Siyasi Siyonizm Tarihi, p. 65,
[2] Manaz, Abdullah. Ibid, p. 19
[3] Wild, Stefan. “National Socialism in the Arab near East between 1933 and 1939.” Die Welt des Islams, Brill: 1985. p.127
[4] Nicosia, Francis. “Arab Nationalism and Nationalist Socialist Germany, 1933-1939.” International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 12, 1980. p.363-364
[5] Aglion, Raoul. The Fighting French. New York, 1943. Cited by, Wild, Stefan. “National Socialism in the Arab near East between 1933 and 1939.” Die Welt des Islams, Brill: 1985. p.127
[6] Richard Breitman & Norman J.W. Goda, Hitler’s Shadov, Published by the National Archives.
[7] Richard Breitman & Norman J.W. Goda, Hitler’s Shadov, Published by the National Archives.
[8] Germany’s New Ostpolitik, Foreign Affairs, Charles Lane, p. 77-89.
[9] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30275358
