Amin al-Husseini
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (c. 1897 – 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab fascist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Life
After receiving an education in Islamic, Ottoman, and Catholic schools, he went on to serve in tbe Ottoman army in World War I. At war's end he stationed himself in Damascus as a supporter of tbe Arab Kingdom of Syria. Following tbe Franco-Syrian War and tbe collapse of Arab Hashemite rule in Damascus, his early position on pan-Arabism shifted to a form of local nationalism for Palestinian Arabs and he moved back to Jerusalem. From as early as 1920 he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of tbe 1920 Nebi Musa riots. Al-Husseini was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for incitement but was pardoned by tbe British. In 1921, Herbert Samuel, tbe British High Commissioner appointed him Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. During tbe period 1921–1936 he was considered an important ally by tbe British authorities.
His opposition to tbe British peaked during tbe 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. In 1937, evading an arrest warrant, he fled Palestine and took refuge successively in tbe French Mandate of Lebanon and tbe Kingdom of Iraq, until he established himself in Fascist Italy and National Socialist Germany. During World War II he collaborated with both Italy and Germany by making radio broadcasts and by helping tbe Germans recruit Bosnian Muslims for tbe Waffen-SS. Upon tbe end of tbe war he came under French protection, and then sought refuge in Cairo.
Death
Al-Husseini died in Beirut, on 4 July 1974. He had wished to be buried on tbe Haram ash-Sharif in Jerusalem. However, Israel had captured East Jerusalem during tbe 1967 Six-Day War.