Husseini, Ḥājj (Muhammad) Amīn Al-°
HUSSEINI, ḤĀJJ (Muhammad) AMĪN AL-°
HUSSEINI, ḤĀJJ (Muhammad) AMĪN AL-° (1893–1974), Palestinian Arab nationalist leader. Born in Jerusalem to a leading family of the Arab urban elite, Husseini was active in the Arab nationalist movement from about 1919. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for his leading role in the April 1920 anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem, but was reprieved in 1921. In an attempt to appease the Arab nationalists and preserve the balance of power between rival families, the British high commissioner, Sir Herbert *Samuel, appointed Husseini mufti (expounder of Muslim law) of Jerusalem in 1921, a position hitherto held by his step-brother. In 1922 Husseini was appointed chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council, combining the religious prestige of the mufti with the administrative and financial power of the council. He made extensive use of his power, turning this position into the most influential one within the Arab community in Palestine. As the leader of the Supreme Muslim Council he initiated a campaign for the renovation of Temple Mount mosques and organized a world Islamic congress in Jerusalem in 1931. Since he formally was an employee of the mandatory government he kept its nationalistic activity low key until the mid-1930s. Only then did he become chief of the Arab nationalists of Palestine, adopting an extremist anti-Jewish and anti-British attitude and leading the dominant Arab nationalist faction in Palestine, informally called "the Husseinis." He took an active (albeit clandestine) part in organizing the anti-Jewish riots of 1929 and 1936 and headed the Arab Higher Committee which directed the 1936 rebellion.
In October 1937, when the second phase of the rebellion commenced, and soon deteriorated into extremist terrorism against Arab opponents as well as Jews, Husseini was dismissed, his Higher Committee outlawed, and his Supreme Council dissolved. He escaped and continued to head the rebellion from exile in *Damascus and *Beirut, strengthening his ties with German and Italian agents. In October 1939, Husseini moved to *Iraq, where he took part in the pro-German coup of 1941. When that coup was suppressed, he fled to *Iran and then to Italy and Germany. Until the end of the war, he collaborated with Nazi Germany as one of its chief propagandists to the Arabs and as a recruiter and organizer of Muslim volunteers, supporting and aiding the Nazi program for the extermination of the Jewish people. In his memoirs he proudly took credit for persuading the Germans to send Balkan Jews to death camps in Poland instead of letting them go to Palestine. At the end of the war he turned himself over to the French. In 1946, however, he escaped from French detention (most likely, with the acquiescence of the French authorities) and settled in *Cairo. From there, and sometimes from Beirut and Damascus, he continued to direct the final phases of the Palestinian-Arab war against the yishuv. In September 1948 he arrived in *Gaza to head the short-lived All-Palestine Government there, but in a few days was sent back to Cairo. He always fought the Hashemite dynasty, especially king *Abdullah of Jordan (who was assassinated in 1951 by Husseini's henchmen). After the Arab defeat of 1948 he still assumed the title of chair of the Arab Higher Committee, but remained in exile and with little influence. Tension between Husseini and *Nasser (over the issue of how to negotiate the "Question of Palestine") increased to such a degree that in 1959 he had to escape Egypt and moved to Lebanon. He vehemently opposed the foundation of the *plo in 1964 and denounced its first chairman, Ahmad Shuqairi, as he still considered himself the leader of the Arabs of Palestine. He still made occasional public appearances. He died in Beirut, in 1974, half-forgotten.
bibliography:
M. Pearlman, Mufti of Jerusalem: the Story of Haj Amin al-Husseini (1947); E. Elath, Haj Amin al-Husseini (Heb., 1968); J.B. Schechtman, The Mufti and the Fuehrer (1965). add. bibliography: P. Mattar, The Mufti of Jerusalem (1988); Z. Elpeleg, Ha-Mufti ha-Gadol (Heb., 1989).
[Yaacov Shimoni /
Joseph Nevo (2nd ed.)]