Evening star., 1947-12-10
10 THE EVENING STAR, Washington. D. c.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER
Intense NationaIism
OF Grand Mufti Gives
Him His Grip on Islam

| (CDN) Who is the Grand Mufti
of Jerusalem, the anti-British, anti
partition, anti-Jewish politico-reli-
gious boss of Islam?
Hal Amin ell Husseini, scion of an
ancient feudal family, is castigated
by the Jews as an unprincipled rem
egade, scoundrel and a power-mad
fanatic.
He accepted Hitler's protection in
Berlin during the war and repaid
the fuehrer's hospitality by broad
casts intended to inflame Moslem
hatred for Britons and Jews.
He has been a powerful source of
Middle East disorder for almost 80
years.
Now, as the United Nations
moves toward partition of Pales-
tine, the Mufti, more than ever, is
key-perhaps the key-to what will
happen in the Middle East.
Appears Benign.
Listen to him talk and you'd call
him almost benign He is extreme
ly mild hammered and affable in his
conversation. He is the very soul
of politeness.
Study his photograph as it peers
from Arab shop windows all through
Palestine and you'd say he was a
gentle, holy man of the mosque, far
removed from plottings of violence.
The most popular picture shows
MIN with a soft smile framed by a
red beard.
Yet this Is the man who has de-
voted his life to one single purpose
Arab nationalism.
Nothing else has mattered. His
hatred OF Jews is a mania, and he
has never permitted legal niceties,
compromise or compassion to inter-
fere with his hatred of Zionism.
Retains Grip on Islam.
Hal Amin's grip on Islam evolves
from two factors.
First. he has an uncanny faculty
as an orator. He mesmerizes Mos
lem listeners with the impact of his
personality.
Secondly, he has built up an ef-
fective political machine which ac-
cepts his orders blindly.
| His astounding power is better
understood by tracing his career as
militant nationalist undaunted by
bloodshed if it served his purpose.
As a youth Hal Amin fought in
the Turkish Army. After Field
Marshal Lord Allenby conquered
Palestine he became a leader in
nationalistic youth movement called
the Shadid.
He worked in the administration
offices after Britain acquired the
Palestine mandate, but he soon had
to flee to Trans Jordan for his anti
British activities.
Sentenced to Prison.
Even though Hal Amin had been
sentenced in absentia to 10 years in
prison, the British high commits
sioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, granted
him amnesty and allowed him to
return to Jerusalem
Sir Herbert had the mistaken idea
that young Husseini's return would
ease unrest in the Arab world.
A manipulation of candidates en-
abled Hal Amin to become Mufti Of
Jerusalem, with British support.
In addition to this high post as
administrator Of Koranic law. Hal
Amin won Sir Herbert's support as
president of the Supreme Moslem
Council, set up by an Arab assembly
in 1921 to supervise religious affairs.
Controls Courts.
| This gave Hal Amin control of
all Moslem religious courts in Pal
estine and, what is more, control of
religious funds.
His power increased year by year
until, in 1885, he welded six Arab
political parties into the first Arab
Higher Committee.
But Arab uprisings against Jewish
immigration reached such stage
that the British, in 1947 dissolved
the Arab Higher Committee, took
over administration of the WAQF
Church fund.- treasury and re-
moved the Mufti as president of
the Supreme Moslem Council.
Hal Amin, disguised in woman's
clothes, fled in a sailboat to the
Lebanon. His kinsman, Jamal Hus-
semi, the man who led the fight
against partition at the recent U.
N. General Assembly, fled to Syria.
At the outbreak of the war, the
Mufti moved east to Iraq and there