July 5, 2001

6:46 AM

Nazis planned Palestine subversion. British secret intelligence files have been released in London about a German wartime plan for subversion in Palestine. Nazi Gold, secret parachute drops and the Grand Mufti.
posted by stbalbach (4 comments total)

Before I get jumped by those out there in support of the Palestinians, yes, I am pro-Israeli. That said, the Jews formed a brigade that worked with the Brits against the Germans in WWII; the Mufti and fellow Arabs favored the Germans because the Nazis were anti-Jewish. If then there is some support for the newly-formed state shortly after the war, the Arabs in the area ought to realize that this was a part of it. Not that more recent devolpments dep[end upon this, but worth the noting.
posted by Postroad at 6:51 AM on July 5, 2001

It should not be surprising. In the midst of a war there are many plans that go unexecuted. It is likely Nazi planing had plans for every part of the world under British control. Where they acctually decided to commit troops and supplies are another thing.
posted by brucec at 7:02 AM on July 5, 2001

From the article "They found no support for any Arab uprising and were captured a week later."

It is a myth that Arabs supported the Nazis. The Grand Mufti was an anomoly. The Arab world of the 1940's was largely dominated by the British, who were not the best colonial masters-- some Arabs of the time thought the Germans might do better (as they promised in Egypt and N. Africa), however you will never find evidence of anything close to support for either side.
posted by FPN at 7:14 AM on July 5, 2001

to FPN: see Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete, chapter called Hunting Season, notes 57-60. Segev, a revisionist historian in Israel, is highly regarded among Arab (Palestinian) scholars. He notes in general the tendency of arabs to side with whomever was felt would be victorious, and that in one estimate (Jewish source, not Segev) some 50% of Arab population favored the Germans, since they were opposed to the Jews, in Palestine and worldwide. The mufti was as you point out a bit differzent (though he was after all a leader of the community), but there was no mass enlistment among the Arabs to support the British as there was among the Zionists, who, disliking both the Brits and the Nazis, choose what they considered the lesser of two evils.
posted by Postroad at 7:48 AM on July 5, 2001