July 4, 1897 - Hajj Amin al-Husseini
As Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, al-Husseini wielded both religious and political authority to shape Palestinian Arab opposition to Zionism — but his trajectory took a decisive turn when he allied himself with Nazi Germany during World War II, meeting with Hitler and actively recruiting Muslims for the Waffen-SS. His wartime collaboration, combined with his role in inciting intercommunal violence during the Mandate period, places him among the most consequential and contested figures in the modern history of the Middle East.
From Wikipedia
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (Arabic: محمد أمين الحسيني; c. 1897 – 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine. He was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab nobles, who trace their origins to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Husseini was born in Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire in 1897, he received education in Islamic, Ottoman, and Catholic schools. In 1912, he pursued Salafist religious studies in Cairo. Husseini later went on to serve in the Ottoman army during World War I. At war's end he stationed himself in Damascus as a supporter of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, but following its disestablishment, he moved back to Jerusalem, shifting his pan-Arabism to a form of Palestinian nationalism. From as early as 1920, he actively opposed Zionism, and as a leader of the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, was sentenced for ten years imprisonment but pardoned by the British. In 1921, Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner appointed him Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a position he used to promote Islam while rallying a non-confessional Arab nationalism against Zionism. During the 1921–1936 period, he was considered an important ally by the British authorities.
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