The arrival of Haj Amin el Husseini, ex-Mufti of Jerusalem, in Berlin today is reported in the Arab press here provoking considerable interest among the Arabs. It is pointed out that this is the first visit which the exiled Mufti has ever made to Nazi Germany and it is believed that his present trip to the Reich was arranged with Hitler’s approval and with a view of utilizing it for increased anti-British and anti-Jewish propaganda.
Little doubt exists here that the ex-Mufti, during his stay in Germany, will broadcast from Berlin to the Arab world backing the German military drive which is now moving slowly towards the Middle East. The British authorities, however, are not idle in that territory. Among other things they are focussing their attention upon the Arab States, and the possibility of these states ultimately becoming federated. The Arab communities representing a potential field for federation have a population of approximately 33,000,000 people, including 16,000,000 in Egypt, 10,000,000 in Saudi-Arabia, 3,500,000 in Iraq, 2,500,000 in Syria and Lebanon, 1,000,000 Arabs and 500,000 Jews in Palestine, and 250,000 Arabs in Transjordan.
Though Arab unity is far easier to talk about than to achieve, the British believe that the idea of a federation must be integrated with long-term post-war policies. The Axis powers, however, are still at work attempting to undermine the British position in this part of the world, but the Arabs as a whole are accounted pro-British. The propaganda activities of the ex-Mufti from Berlin may, however, strengthen the hands of the Mufti’s followers in Palestine, Syria and Iraq, who lost contact with him after he escaped from Iraq to Iran.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
