Amin al-Husseini

Mohammed Amin al-Husseini was a <a href="/facts/Palestinian_people/DBnkAQ5l">Palestinian</a> <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalist/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalist</a> and <a href="/facts/Muslim/W2ukq4pg">Muslim</a> leader in <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Mandatory Palestine</a>. Al-Husseini was the scion of the <a href="/facts/Al-Husayni/KkdCqk2I">al-Husayni</a> family of <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalemite</a> Arab nobles, who trace their origins to the Islamic prophet <a href="/facts/Muhammad/5VcA7XrT">Muhammad</a>.
Husseini was born in Jerusalem, <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a> in 1897, he received education in <a href="/facts/Madrasa/zrCBh8dM">Islamic</a>, <a href="/facts/Madrasa/zrCBh8dM">Ottoman</a>, and <a href="/facts/Catholic_school/TaBj1ptS">Catholic schools</a>. In 1912, he pursued <a href="/facts/Salafi_movement/FxuCQj4K">Salafist</a> religious studies in Cairo. Husseini later went on to serve in the <a href="/facts/Military_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/M1aX9Q3a">Ottoman army</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>. At war's end he stationed himself in <a href="/facts/Damascus/IL0Qwt6R">Damascus</a> as a supporter of the <a href="/facts/Arab_Kingdom_of_Syria/lplKokn4">Arab Kingdom of Syria</a>, but following its disestablishment, he moved back to Jerusalem, shifting his <a href="/facts/Pan-Arabism/7AH9WCrb">pan-Arabism</a> to a form of <a href="/facts/Palestinian_nationalism/buIhvK9S">Palestinian nationalism</a>. From as early as 1920, he actively opposed <a href="/facts/Zionism/kL92sl76">Zionism</a>, and as a leader of the <a href="/facts/1920_Nebi_Musa_riots/ubLeDz1J">1920 Nebi Musa riots</a>, was sentenced for ten years imprisonment but pardoned by the British. In 1921, <a href="/facts/Herbert_Samuel/SttGp4Kh">Herbert Samuel</a>, the <a href="/facts/High_Commissioners_for_Palestine_and_Transjordan/bRfVxpf4">British High Commissioner</a> appointed him <a href="/facts/Grand_Mufti_of_Jerusalem/oRSsmR0N">Grand Mufti of Jerusalem</a>, a position he used to promote <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islam</a> while rallying a non-confessional <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalism/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalism</a> against Zionism. During the 1921–1936 period, he was considered an important ally by the British authorities. His appointment by the British for the role of grand mufti of all Palestine (a new role established by the British) helped divide the Palestinian leadership structure and national movement.
In 1937, evading an arrest warrant for aligning himself as leader of the <a href="/facts/1936%25E2%2580%25931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine/MoXwBAJb">1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine</a> against British rule, he fled and took refuge in <a href="/facts/Greater_Lebanon/DmjpVyaH">Lebanon</a> and afterwards <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Iraq/s1XPzxuX">Iraq</a>. He then established himself in <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Fascist Italy</a> and <a href="/facts/Nazi_Germany/8kRbqRpo">Nazi Germany</a>, which he <a href="/facts/Relations_between_Nazi_Germany_and_the_Arab_world/9twrfQYI">collaborated</a> with during <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a> against Britain, requesting during a meeting with <a href="/facts/Adolf_Hitler/3zyXG1L8">Adolf Hitler</a> backing for Arab independence and opposition to the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. Upon the <a href="/facts/End_of_World_War_II_in_Europe/QakawVUH">end of the war</a>, he came under French protection, and then sought refuge in <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>. In the lead-up to the <a href="/facts/1948_Palestine_war/lGFHlU7R">1948 Palestine war</a>, Husseini opposed both the <a href="/facts/1947_UN_Partition_Plan/uUhEPqgl">1947 UN Partition Plan</a> and <a href="/facts/Jordan/JC5sS1oJ">Jordan</a>'s plan to annex the <a href="/facts/West_Bank/xzTTVNJl">West Bank</a>. Failing to gain command of the <a href="/facts/Arab_League/15f9WWWM">Arab League</a>'s <a href="/facts/Arab_Liberation_Army/vNzm2jGD">Arab Liberation Army</a>, Husseini built his own militia, the <a href="/facts/Army_of_the_Holy_War/CNPyggxM">Holy War Army</a>. In September 1948 he participated in the establishment of an <a href="/facts/All-Palestine_Government/z4XGsnx5">All-Palestine Government</a> in <a href="/facts/Occupation_of_the_Gaza_Strip_by_Egypt/SrneCuhB">Egyptian-ruled Gaza</a>, but this government won limited recognition and was eventually dissolved by Egypt in 1959. After the war and the <a href="/facts/1948_Palestinian_expulsion_and_flight/bMSw91lU">1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight</a>, his claims to leadership were discredited and he was eventually sidelined by the establishment of the <a href="/facts/Palestine_Liberation_Organization/9Kk16qMp">Palestine Liberation Organization</a> in 1964. He died in <a href="/facts/Beirut/0sxJRAqW">Beirut</a>, Lebanon, in July 1974.
Husseini was and remains a highly controversial figure. Historians dispute whether his fierce opposition to Zionism was grounded in <a href="/facts/Nationalism/IECpIhm0">nationalism</a> or <a href="/facts/Antisemitism/kUpfFkqx">antisemitism</a>, or a combination of both. Opponents of Palestinian nationalism have pointed to Husseini's wartime residence and propaganda activities in Nazi Germany to associate the Palestinian national movement with <a href="/facts/Antisemitism_in_Europe/8eIwk4gK">antisemitism in Europe</a>. Historians also note that Husseini was not the only non-European nationalist leader to have cooperated with Nazi Germany against Britain, citing examples of <a href="/facts/India_in_World_War_II/2XhIuqRD">Indian</a>, Lebanese, and even the Jewish militant group <a href="/facts/Lehi_(militant_group)/7qNbwRWu">Lehi</a> cooperation.

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Amin al-Husseini