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7. “The Americans, the British, and the Jews Are All Conspiring against Arab Interests”: Propaganda from 1944 to Spring 1945

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Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
This chapter is in the book Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
chapter 7“The Americans, the British, and the JewsAre All Conspiring against Arab Interests”Propaganda from 1944to Spring 1945Although the military battles of World War II in North Africa had ended in1943, Nazi Arabic-language propaganda continued with unabatedintensity. The Germans, as well as the Americans and British, knewthat their attacks on Zionism were popular among a broad segment of the Mid-dle Eastern public and that their explicit attacks on the Jews were finding a pos-itive reception among a smaller audience that shared their radical anti-Semi-tism. Judging from the content of the last year and a half of their broadcasts, theNazis also believed that their most fervent supporters in the Middle East werethe Islamists, who accepted the idea that there indeed was an elective affinitybetween National Socialism and the Islam of its imaginings. At modest cost andwith a now-established staff, the regime took aim at what some American andBritish officials believed was an, if not the, Achilles’ heel of Allied policy in theregion, namely, the association of Britain and especially the United States withthe Jews and with Zionism. Leading American military and diplomatic officialsalso feared that this identification carried with it the risk of offending the Arabsand Muslims to such an extent that added troops would have to be divertedfrom the war in Europe to Palestine and Egypt or that Allied pipelines might besabotaged. Early in the war, Hitler had described the spread of anti-Semitism toother countries and regions as an important element in a strategy to win thewar. If its purpose was to split the Grand Alliance, it failed. Its success lay in of-fering an explanation rooted in radical anti-Semitism about why the Allies werewinning and why the Axis was losing the war and what the consequences wouldbe for Arabs and Muslims.
© Yale University Press, New Haven

chapter 7“The Americans, the British, and the JewsAre All Conspiring against Arab Interests”Propaganda from 1944to Spring 1945Although the military battles of World War II in North Africa had ended in1943, Nazi Arabic-language propaganda continued with unabatedintensity. The Germans, as well as the Americans and British, knewthat their attacks on Zionism were popular among a broad segment of the Mid-dle Eastern public and that their explicit attacks on the Jews were finding a pos-itive reception among a smaller audience that shared their radical anti-Semi-tism. Judging from the content of the last year and a half of their broadcasts, theNazis also believed that their most fervent supporters in the Middle East werethe Islamists, who accepted the idea that there indeed was an elective affinitybetween National Socialism and the Islam of its imaginings. At modest cost andwith a now-established staff, the regime took aim at what some American andBritish officials believed was an, if not the, Achilles’ heel of Allied policy in theregion, namely, the association of Britain and especially the United States withthe Jews and with Zionism. Leading American military and diplomatic officialsalso feared that this identification carried with it the risk of offending the Arabsand Muslims to such an extent that added troops would have to be divertedfrom the war in Europe to Palestine and Egypt or that Allied pipelines might besabotaged. Early in the war, Hitler had described the spread of anti-Semitism toother countries and regions as an important element in a strategy to win thewar. If its purpose was to split the Grand Alliance, it failed. Its success lay in of-fering an explanation rooted in radical anti-Semitism about why the Allies werewinning and why the Axis was losing the war and what the consequences wouldbe for Arabs and Muslims.
© Yale University Press, New Haven

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Preface ix
  4. Acknowledgments xi
  5. A Note on Terminology and Spelling xv
  6. 1. Introduction 1
  7. 2. Defining Anti-Semitism: 1933–1939 15
  8. 3. Growing Contacts, First Broadcasts: 1939–1941 36
  9. 4. Propaganda and Warfighting in North Africa and the Middle East in 1941 57
  10. 5. “Kill the Jews before They Kill You”: Propaganda during the Battles in North Africa in 1942 88
  11. 6. “The Jews Kindled This War in the Interest of Zionism”: Propaganda in 1943 as the Tide Turned against the Axis 158
  12. 7. “The Americans, the British, and the Jews Are All Conspiring against Arab Interests”: Propaganda from 1944 to Spring 1945 194
  13. 8. Postwar Aftereffects 233
  14. Conclusion 261
  15. Notes 267
  16. Bibliography 311
  17. Index 323
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https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300155839-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Preface ix
  4. Acknowledgments xi
  5. A Note on Terminology and Spelling xv
  6. 1. Introduction 1
  7. 2. Defining Anti-Semitism: 1933–1939 15
  8. 3. Growing Contacts, First Broadcasts: 1939–1941 36
  9. 4. Propaganda and Warfighting in North Africa and the Middle East in 1941 57
  10. 5. “Kill the Jews before They Kill You”: Propaganda during the Battles in North Africa in 1942 88
  11. 6. “The Jews Kindled This War in the Interest of Zionism”: Propaganda in 1943 as the Tide Turned against the Axis 158
  12. 7. “The Americans, the British, and the Jews Are All Conspiring against Arab Interests”: Propaganda from 1944 to Spring 1945 194
  13. 8. Postwar Aftereffects 233
  14. Conclusion 261
  15. Notes 267
  16. Bibliography 311
  17. Index 323
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