Racism in the Palestinian territories

According to many observers, various types discrimination on the basis of religion against Jews as well as of racism and ethnic discrimination against blacks on ethnic basis, have existed in the area of what are now the Palestinian territories.

The British Mandate in Palestine period was marked by rising intercommunal tensions between the Zionist Yishuv and rising Palestinian and Arab nationalism. Arab nationalists not only opposed British rule, but the Zionist plan for a Jewish state in Palestine, and some Arabs engaged in violence against Jews, notably during the Arab Revolt. Some historians and other observers have interpreted this opposition as rooted in racism, while others have argued that Arab positions and actions were "political in character, aiming to defend Arab social, economic, and cultural, and political interests. It was not racial in character, and neither did it reflect racial concepts rooted in Islam." Historian Gudrun Krämer argues the "anti-Zionism equals anti-Judaism equals anti-Semitism" interpretation "is itself politically motivated, and must be understood as such." Scholars of both positions agree that European and Nazi antisemitism appeared in Mandate Palestine in the forms of the antisemitic forgery (which was translated into Arabic and published in Cairo in 1925), and the embrace of Nazi antisemitism by Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin al-Husayni. However, scholars also disagree on the broader impact of the elements of antisemitism, with Jeffrey Herf arguing that it was influential enough to provide seeds for later Islamist movements, and Krämer and René Wildangel arguing that most Palestinians and Arab nationalists distanced themselves from Nazi ideology. Richard Levy notes that, "Original works of Arabic antisemitic literature did not appear until the second half of the twentieth century, after the establishment of the state of Israel and the defeat of Arab armies in 1948, 1956, and 1967."

1920s - 40s

After the British assumed power in the region, Haj Amin al-Husayni was appointed as Mufti of Jerusalem by High Commissioner Herbert Samuel. He was the principal leader of the Arab national movement in Palestine and a popular personality in the Arab world during most of the years of British rule. He met with Hitler and other Nazi officials on various occasions and attempted to coordinate Nazi and Arab policies to solve the "Jewish problem" in Palestine. Due to his role of leadership in Palestine and his association with the Nazi leader, he was sometimes referred to as the "fuhrer of the Arab world". In one of his speeches he said: "Kill the Jews wherever you find them—this pleases Allah."

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