By
– September 13, 2011
The Middle East and North Africa were not the major fronts during World War II, and fortunately, Jews there did not suffer to the extent that their European brethren did. Yet the region was important for the war development for the Allies and the Axis powers, whose propaganda targeted the Arabs in various ways. The studies by Herf, Litvak, and Webman examine several ideological implications of the war on the Arabs, both during the war and later on.
Herf’s study is based primarily on Nazi radio propaganda broadcasts in Arabic, which were translated into English at the US embassy in Cairo and sent regularly to the U.S. Herf shows in great detail how these broadcasts were strongly connected to German war aims and developments, trying to build full-fledged anti-Semitism upon existing anti-Zionist feelings among Arabs resulting from the conflict over Palestine. Moreover, the Germans tried to build on this hatred and on the anti-British feelings in opposition to the Allies, stating that both Britain and the U.S. are controlled by Jews, and the war against the Allies is in fact against Jews and Zionism. Nazi propaganda was greatly facilitated by several Arab exiles, prominent among them Hajj Amin al-Husayni and Rashid Ali al-Kaylani, who were not tried afterWorldWar II due to British concerns for their position in the Arab world in the post-war period. This is a very important study on Nazi propaganda aimed at the Arab world during the war. It is to be hoped that it will be followed by an examination of how this propaganda influenced the Arab world at the time and in the future.
The study by Litvak and Webman is a thorough examination of Arab responses to the Holocaust from the mid-1940’s on, based on archival and published sources, many of them in Arabic. It includes historical case studies as well as specific themes, some of which are in complete contrast to Nazi propaganda (e.g., equating Zionism to Nazism and the alleged Nazi-Zionist cooperation; other themes include Holocaust denial; justification of the Holocaust, and the Palestinian Catastrophe [Nakbah] versus the Holocaust). The analysis is provided within the broader historical context, with special reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Western involvement in Middle Eastern affairs. This important study shows how Arab attitudes to the Holocaust are connected to global and regional affairs and in particular to developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both studies include bibliography, index, and notes.
Herf’s study is based primarily on Nazi radio propaganda broadcasts in Arabic, which were translated into English at the US embassy in Cairo and sent regularly to the U.S. Herf shows in great detail how these broadcasts were strongly connected to German war aims and developments, trying to build full-fledged anti-Semitism upon existing anti-Zionist feelings among Arabs resulting from the conflict over Palestine. Moreover, the Germans tried to build on this hatred and on the anti-British feelings in opposition to the Allies, stating that both Britain and the U.S. are controlled by Jews, and the war against the Allies is in fact against Jews and Zionism. Nazi propaganda was greatly facilitated by several Arab exiles, prominent among them Hajj Amin al-Husayni and Rashid Ali al-Kaylani, who were not tried afterWorldWar II due to British concerns for their position in the Arab world in the post-war period. This is a very important study on Nazi propaganda aimed at the Arab world during the war. It is to be hoped that it will be followed by an examination of how this propaganda influenced the Arab world at the time and in the future.
The study by Litvak and Webman is a thorough examination of Arab responses to the Holocaust from the mid-1940’s on, based on archival and published sources, many of them in Arabic. It includes historical case studies as well as specific themes, some of which are in complete contrast to Nazi propaganda (e.g., equating Zionism to Nazism and the alleged Nazi-Zionist cooperation; other themes include Holocaust denial; justification of the Holocaust, and the Palestinian Catastrophe [Nakbah] versus the Holocaust). The analysis is provided within the broader historical context, with special reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Western involvement in Middle Eastern affairs. This important study shows how Arab attitudes to the Holocaust are connected to global and regional affairs and in particular to developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both studies include bibliography, index, and notes.
Additional books featured in this review
Rachel Simon, a librarian at Princeton University, does research on Jews in the modern Middle East and North Africa, with special reference to Libya, Ottoman Empire, women, and education.