The palestinian national movement and its attitude toward the fascist and nazi movements 1925-1945

Allegations concerning the Palestinian national movement's wall-to-wall support of Fascism, and specifically Nazism, are currently being voiced in political contexts as well as in allegedly neutral scholarly contexts. It has become fashionable to recognize Mufti Amin al-Husayni's close collaboration with Mussolini and Hitler as characteristic of the entire Palestinian movement.1 Most researchers disregard the variations between factions within the movement and particularly the significant transitions experienced over time by advocates of Fascism and Nazism. A close reading of contemporary Palestinian newspapers indicates the complex and dynamic attitude of the Palestinian public toward Fascism and Nazism, which was contingent to a great degree on the evolution of Palestinian national identity in particular and Arab identity in general.