Should #we Palestine Arabs be on Hindenburg’s side or on Hitler’s side in the German presidential elections, the “Jamea el Arabia”, the organ of the Grand Mufti, asks in an article discussing the German elections. Some people may wonder, it says, of what particular significance it is to Palestine Arabs which of the two wins, but the fact is that we have a very considerable interest in the matter. Hitler and his Party are enemies of the Jews. They maintain that it is the Jews who are responsible for all the calamities that have befallen Germany since the war. If Hitler wins, the Jews in Germany will naturally have a bad time of it, and therefore the Jews support Hindenburg, not so much because they like Hindenburg, as because they are afraid of Hitler.
We Arabs, although we are not German citizens, stand to gain or lose very considerably according to whether Hindenburg or Hitler wins. It would be only natural that we should be in favour of Hitler winning, because, as the Arab proverb puts it – “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Unfortunately, however, though our inclinations are all with Hitler, it is not to our advantage that he should win, because if Hitler wins he will persecute the Jews who will then flock out of Germany, and naturally, for the most part, into Palestine. While if Hindenburg wins, the Jews will stay in Germany. In spite of all our sympathies for Hitler, therefore, we must wish success to Hindenburg, for whatever difficulties Germany may suffer because of the presence of the Jews, Germany can bear them better than can a poor country like Palestine.
We offer thousands of apologies to you, Mr. Hitler, the paper concludes, but you cannot blame the Arabs, if, after all, they consider their own interests first.
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