Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World (38 page)

German Arabic-language propaganda, no less than German propaganda in Germany and Europe, included a massive assault on Communism. But while the anti-Jewish themes were important in both campaigns, the racist attacks on "Slavic subhumans" that were important in Europe did not play a prominent role in the Middle East. Rather, Arabic-language radio stressed the antagonism between Bolshevism and Islam. On February 12, VFA stated that the Bolsheviks planned "to erase Islam from the hearts of the Moslems and pave the way for Bolshevism." The Bolsheviks were "enemies of religion and of capitalism." Hence it was "our duty to oppose" them. With stunning logic, it concluded that "the Jews are the Bolsheviks and the Bolsheviks are the Jews and the Jews are our enemies. 1141 On February 27, Berlin in Arabic again underscored the religious foundations of its anti-Bolshevism. Hatred of Bolshevism was "quite strong among the Moslems who followed the principles of Mohammed." In a conflict between the Egyptian government and Al Azhar, "the great Moslem University," the station stood firmly on the side of the latter. 42

On May 12, Berlin in Arabic reported about the "Agreement between Bolshevism and Zionism." "Political circles in Lisbon" had "reliable sources" who indicated that "Dr. Wise, the Zionist leader" [Rabbi Stephen Wise, a leader of Reform Judaism in the United States], had met the Soviet ambassador in Washington and "suggested that the Headquarters of world Zionism should be transferred from New York to Moscow." The Bolsheviks were "joining hands with Zionism." A Jewish state in Palestine would be "a Bolshevik Republic overlooking the Mediterranean." Such a "rapprochement between the Jews and the Bolsheviks is detrimental to the Arabs. These two evil influences have united to devastate the world. The transfer of the Zionist den brings it nearer to the Mediterranean and to the gates of the Arab countries. The Arabs should be careful and beware of the approaching menace. Should the Bolshevik-Jewish tempest rage over the Near East, one issue would remain only-struggle: death or life."43 As with attacks on Britain and the United States, anti-Semitism connected the Nazi attack on European Communism to its policies in the Middle East.

Although propaganda against Communism occupied a prominent place in the Arabic-language material, it was far less pervasive than was the assault on Britain and even more so than in the attacks on the United States. In the United States, reports of the massacre of European Jewry led to a growing public call for the government to do all it could to rescue Europe's Jews, including lifting restrictions on Jewish immigration of Palestine. In January 1944, Resolutions 418 and 419 were introduced into the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in support of that policy.44 On February i, Senator Robert Wagner, a Democrat from New York, and Senator Robert Taft, a Republican from Ohio, introduced a resolution in the Senate advocating that the United States support "free and unlimited entry of Jews into Palestine for the creation of a Jewish commonwealth" and in so doing abrogate the limitations on such immigration imposed by the British White Paper of 1939. In addition to placing the Congress on record as favoring "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," the resolution also stated that "nothing shall be done which shall prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected."45 The solution was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

On February 7, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson wrote to the chairman of the Senate committee as follows: "The subject of this resolution is a matter of deep military concern to the War Department. I feel that the passage of this resolution at the present time, or even any public hearings thereon, would be apt to provoke dangerous repercussions in areas where we have many vital military interests. Any conflict between Jews and Arabs would require the retention of troops in the affected areas and thus reduce the total forces that could otherwise be placed in combat against Germany. The consequent unrest in other portions of the Arab world would keep United Nations resources away from the combat zone. I believe therefore that our war effort would be seriously prejudiced by such action."46 On February 9, Secretary of State Hull wrote to the committee chairman, "In view of the military considerations advanced in this regard by the Secretary of War, it is believed that without reference to its merits no further action on this resolution would be advisable at this time."47

On February 14, L. Roy Henderson, the American ambassador to Iraq, cabled Hull to convey the views of Nuri Pasha, the Iraqi prime minister. Nuri thought passage of the resolution "would strengthen Axis propaganda" in the Middle East. He (Nuri) "pointed out that German radio broadcasts in the Arabic language were making wide use of this resolution in an endeavor to create a lack of confidence among the Arabs in the sincerity of purpose of the Allies and of Allied expressions of friendliness toward the Arab world. He added that it would be extremely helpful in combating Axis propaganda and in stilling certain misgivings even among those Arabs most friendly to the Allied cause if assurances could be given that the Government of the U.S. would not decide on what its attitude on Palestine is to be until spokesmen for the Arabs are given a full opportunity to make clear the issues at stake." Reports of intense opposition by Arab governments to passage of the Senate resolution also came to Hull from the American embassies in Egypt and Syria.48

On February 23, General George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army, testified against passage of the resolution before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in special executive session.49 In preparation for his testimony, Marshall asked John J. McCloy, the assistant secretary of war, to prepare a memo for the hearing. Marshall told McCloy that he had followed "the general facts and tone of this memorandum. 1150 The McCloy memo to Marshall is a key document of American thinking about the way to respond to the challenge of Nazi Germany in the Middle East during World War II. American military intelligence "G-2" reports that McCloy had read confirmed what any newspaper reader already knew, namely, that there was a "high degree of tension in Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews;" and each side had substantial quantities of arms. McCloy concluded that "any action which would tend to increase this ten sion or threaten an outbreak in this area would greatly compromise our [American] military capacities." Troops badly needed in Europe would be needed for garrison duty. American troops were "in contact with the Moslem world not only in Palestine but throughout the entire Mediterranean area and in many places farther east." The Palestine issue was "of more or less concern to all the Moslem population of the Near East and North Africa." German agents were "active in the area and certainly will use the Arab-Jew issue to the limit in order to foment further disturbances if an opportunity presents itself." American lines of communication throughout Africa were "to an important degree dependent upon the cooperation and goodwill of the Arab," and "his willingness to supply goods and services in furtherance of the Allied effort is a matter of real military importance." Supply routes to Russia via the Persian Gulf and to the Far East ran through "Moslem territory and would be subject to constant threat of sabotage and disruption in the event of any disturbances or hostilities." Muslims were also fighting with the Allies in Italy. Finally, the Middle East was an important supply base for American operations in Europe, especially oil supplies. "The existing pipeline from Iraq to Palestine could be cut or damaged as it has been in the past" with obvious effects on naval and military operations in the Mediterranean, which depended on the Haifa refinery for their oil. The Abadan refinery at the head of the Persian Gulf was "the only Allied source of aviation gasoline outside the Western Hemisphere." Distances were great and supply installations "in many places are highly vulnerable." Substantial numbers of troops would be required to protect them in the event of disorders. Therefore, McCloy argued, "from a military point of view we would much prefer to let such sleeping dogs lie." That is, a decision about the Palestine issue should be postponed until "after the war when military considerations will be less acute." McCloy also noted that the government of Iraq reported that German agents were using the existence of the Senate resolution in their propaganda against theAllies. S'

On March i, in response to the Wagner-Taft resolution, Berlin in Arabic unleashed a particularly vitriolic tirade against "criminal American senators." It announced to "the Arab world, to the Islamic world, to the Eastern world, to all humanity" that a "great tragedy is about to be unfolded, a great massacre, another turbulent war is about to start in the Arab countries. Much fine blood will be shed and many innocent and dear souls will be lost." The American senators' "vile intention towards Arabs and Islam is to erase Islamic civilization from the face of the world, to eradicate the Koran from the heart of men and to replace it by their atheism and immorality." According to the broadcast, they want to "see blood flowing all over the Near East." Their decision to introduce the resolution for debate was "one of their most heinous crimes," for they wanted to "force their will upon the followers of Mohammed ... debase the religion of Mohammed.... It is a horrid and repulsive crime." A Jewish country in Palestine would be "a horrible nation" and its creation would be "a shameful crime!" The meaning of the Wagner-Taft resolution was that "the Arabs and Arabism should no longer exist." It would lead to "the eradication of the Mosque of Aqsa to which our Holy Prophet made his flight" and its replacement with "Solomon's Temple. This means the annihilation of all Arabs and Moslems." The proposed Jewish country would colonize and plunder the Arab countries, undermine their religious sentiment, and disperse the Muslims. The broadcast repeated its long-standing mantra that the United States was "really a Jewish colony and that the 5 million Jews living there dominate the 140 million other Americans." Although Berlin in Arabic "knew" that Jews controlled the major institutions of American society, "never did we dream that the Americans would become the slaves of the Jews, overridden by them, directed by them at their will." The Americans and the Allies seemed "to care nothing for the 400 million Arabs and Moslems whom they consider as insects, flies. 1152

The concluding paragraphs of the broadcast predicted absolute catastrophe in tones of apoplectic rage and appeals to kill the Allies.

Arabs and Moslems, sons of the East, this menace threatens your very lives, endangers your beliefs and aims at your wealth. No trace of you will remain. Your doom is sealed. It were better if the earth opened and engulfed everybody; it were better if the skies fell upon us, bringing havoc and destruction; all this, rather than the sun of Islam should set and the Koran perish.

Kings of the Arabs and Moslems, princes of the Arabs and the Moslems, governments of the Arabs and the Moslems, let us hear your voices; let us hear your deeds; react against the horrible future which awaits you! Stir up wars and revolutions, stand fast against the aggressors, let your hearts, afire with faith, burst asunder! Advance with your armies and tribes to drive out the menace.

Men and women should fight the Allies by all means. Kill them. Thus history will honor you, coming generations will praise you and you will have cleansed the stain which is intended to sully you. God will bring you victory.53

On March 3, Berlin in Arabic continued the denunciation of the "band of robbers in the American Senate." Speaking directly to Palestinians, it stated, "You are now in the front line and when you win this battle you will have won the battle of the Arab countries and the battle of Islam." God as well as "your sister Arab countries" Egypt, Sudan, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia supported them. In addition to the millions of Arabs and Muslims, there were "gigantic powers standing beside you including Germany and Japan, who will help you to exterminate the Jews and defeat the Anglo-Saxons. Rise with your power and determination as you did before."54

Accusations of espionage were among the most dangerous of the various rationales offered for killing Jews in Arab countries. On February 27, Berlin in Arabic stated, "The British Secret Information Bureau is the foundation stone of the friendship between the British and the Jews." Echoing Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic propaganda aimed at its domestic audience, Berlin in Arabic asserted that the British-Jewish friendship "started when Cromwell opened the doors of Britain to the Jews." It continued in 1941 in Iraq, when "the Jews in Bagdad used to sneak to the British Embassy under cover of darkness to receive pamphlets" and then distributed them "so as to create panic in the hearts of the people." The Iraqi Jews, it continued, gave the British Embassy information about the Iraqi army. When the British landed in spring 1941 to depose the Kilani government, "the Arabs revolted, but the Jews welcomed them and received them with flowers. The Arabs attacked the Jews, many of whom were killed."55 The broadcast thereby justified the anti-Jewish pogrom in Iraq in spring 1941.56 In addition, in Tunisia in 1942, the Jews had enthusiastically welcomed the British as their "faithful friends." Had not the British and Americans "strengthened [the] influence of Jews in Algiers, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya? ... The Arabs should know that every Jew living among them is a spy attached to the British with strong ties." The assertion that "every Jew living among them" was a spy was a rationale for mass violence against those the broadcast called "your worst enemies and also the enemies of your religion, your country and your nation."57

A telegram sent to Senator Wagner by Jamil al Madfai, president of the Iraqi Senate, and Muhammed Ridha Shabibi, president of its Chamber of Deputies, gives an indication of the impact Nazi propaganda was having in Arab countries. They repeated the view, widespread among Arab political leaders, that the plan to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine was "in sharp contradiction to the spirit of the Atlantic Charter." In addition, such a plan "would strengthen the effort of Axis propaganda to persuade the Arab peoples that their great allies had not been sincere in the principles for which they are fighting and that the American government and people have in reality no interest in or sympathy with the Arab peoples."58 Worries about the resolution's impact on the Allied position in the Arab world did not come only from abroad. On March 4, the New York Times reported that General George Marshall told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that military considerations, that is, the concerns expressed in the above-mentioned memo by McCloy, called for a postponement of the resolution. Committee member Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota said "it was obvious" that Marshall feared that passage of the resolution "might disturb relations with the Arabs." In separate letters to the committee, Secretary of War Stimson and Secretary of State Hull also opposed action on the resolution at that time.59 This opposition to the resolution by leading American military and diplomatic officials indicated that they believed that Nazi propaganda was having at least some of its desired effect in the Middle East. As a result of pressure that also came from the White House, the Wagner-Taft resolution was withdrawn.