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Palestinian Arabs Who Fought the Nazis
(Media Line-Jerusalem Post) Maya Margit - Jerusalem Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini's ties with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy are well-documented. Less known is the story of 12,000 Palestinian Arabs who volunteered to serve in the British army during World War II in North Africa and Europe, often fighting side-by-side with 30,000 Palestinian Jews who served. Prof. Mustafa Abbasi, a historian at Tel-Hai Academic College in Israel, has recently published "Palestinians Fighting the Nazis: The Story of Palestinian Volunteers in World War II." "It appears that an important and central portion of the Palestinian public believed that it was necessary to stand on the British side....They didn't accept the mufti's policies....Arabs and the Jews were in mixed units and fought together." Abbasi decided to research the matter after discovering that his own maternal grandfather had volunteered in the British army during the war. Abbasi notes that economic motives were the deciding factor for the majority. The British army provided low-priced food, clothing and medical care.