A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Israeli Social Media and Satirists take aim at Netanyahu's "The Mufti Made Him Do It" Remarks

Binyamin Netanyahu's  somewhat bizarre assertion that Adolf Hitler had not planned on exterminating Europe's Jews until the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, urged him to do so has provoked both anger and derision in Israel and elsewhere. Ironically, it came just before his trip to Germany, where Angela Merkel made clear that Germans were in fact responsible and Netanyahu seemed to back off a bit. Hajj Amin was a singularly unpleasant character, an ally and cheerleader for Hitler; that's well-established.   But Hitler's intentions seem to have been well in train before any encouragement he may have received from the Mufti. I forget how many volumes the Nuremberg testimony occupies, but check them out. Also Mein Kampf, published 1925.

There has been plenty of humor on social media, especially from Israelis, at the odd prospect of a Prime Minister of Israel (not to mention the son of a historian) somehow seeming to lessen Hitler's guilt:
Not to mention claims that the Palestinians caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, or Eve didn't plan to eat the apple until the Mufti advised her to , or who really caused the Beatles to break up:

+972 Magazine has posted a couple of collections of these so far: Part I here, and "Part deux."

But of course, no Internet meme is complete without the requisite "Hitler learns ..." parody of the famous Downfall clip:

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