The conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), which Saudi Arabia has designated a terrorist organization and views as a political movement seeking to destabilize it, escalates day by day. As part of this conflict, the Saudi media is waging a media campaign against the organization and the countries that support it, that is, Qatar and Turkey,
Thus, on February 14, 2020, the Saudi government daily 'Okaz published a lengthy feature article, headlined "The Nazi Brotherhood," about MB founder Hassan Al-Bana's and Jerusalem mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini's connections with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership during World War II.
According to the article, which was written by 'Okaz assistant editor-in-chief Khalid Tashkandi, Al-Bana served the Nazis in order to advance the MB's political aspirations, and Al-Husseini served as liaison between them. From 1940-45, stated the article, Al-Bana operated in Cairo as a spy for the Third Reich while simultaneously maintaining an intelligence relationship with the British authorities. It added that Al-Bana and Al-Husseini recruited 55,000 fighters from among members of the MB in Egypt and the Arab world to fight as Muslim Nazis in WWII under the command of the Third Reich.
"The Nazi Brotherhood" headline in 'Okaz: Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Bana in a fez with a swastika (Source: Alkhaleejonline.net, February 14, 2020)
The following are translated excerpts from the article:[1]
On Hassan Al-Bana's Ties With The Nazis: Al-Bana Committed To Collaborating With Hitler And Spied For Him For Five Years
The article stated: "Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Bana maintained secret ties with several foreign intelligence apparatuses, with the aim of [gaining] support for his political agendas, of taking power [in Egypt], increasing the scope of his influence, and realizing his political ambitions as part of [the plan to] establish [the MB as] the Islamic Leadership of the World,[2] as stated in his book Remembrances of Preaching and of a Preacher.[3] In the context [of these agendas], it comes as no surprise that Al-Bana offered his services to the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler... Al-Bana signed a document in which he committed to collaborating with the leadership of the Nazi Third Reich. The unilateral commitment, made by Al-Bana alone, included a promise to help the Nazis from Cairo. In addition, Al-Bana proposed recruiting 50,000 fighters from the MB organization in Egypt and the Arab world to fight as Muslim Nazis in World War II, under two conditions: first, that the MB unit be called 'the Muslim Brotherhood Free Arabian Legion,' and second, that Al-Bana, rather than the Nazi army commanders, be responsible for selecting the MB members for this force. He promised to give them a religious sermon urging them to be loyal to the Nazi army. This military force indeed fought alongside the Nazi forces against the armies of the Allied nations, and thousands of its members were killed and hundreds captured..."
The article quoted from what it claimed was a confidential document from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office dated August 28, 1945, which read: "Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna has bought an apartment in 1940, it's balcony was overlooking Abdeen's Palace. from it he worked as a full time spy for the Nazis. In a secret case coded 'The Palace's Balcony' during the world war II. This apartment worked as a front organization law office for the German secret services in Cairo from 1940 till 1945, and started to send its cipher transmission messages in Dec. 1940. Banna himself, has been trained by the Nazis secret services officers in Cairo for two months, for directing the apartment, and continuing to spy in the capital of Egypt. All the secrets which Al-Banna transmitted to Berlin, has been sent first from a German cipher machine, that's been loaded on a private fishing boat, anchored in Abu Oir's port in Alexandria. This Boat has been caught by the British secret services during the war in Nov. 1943 but they have failed to investigate with it's crew as they have been killed while trying to escape."
Photo from the article: "Soldiers from the Nazi Muslim Brotherhood Legion"
On Al-Husseini's Ties With The Nazis: Al-Husseini And Al-Bana Recruited 55,000 Men To Fight Alongside The Nazis
The article also focused on the ties between Al-Husseini and the Nazi movement: "Muhammad Amin Al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem and the MB representative in Palestine, was the liaison who managed the recruitment of the Arabs to fight under the flag of the Nazi army... Along with his friend, MB founder and leader Hassan Al-Bana, he recruited an army of Egyptian and Arab MB members, enlisted from orphanages and poor rural areas, to fight under the flag of the Nazi army and under the command of the German Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler. This [MB] army numbered 55,000 men, 15,000 of them from Egypt..."
It stated further: "The ties of Jerusalem mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini with the Nazi authorities were long-standing and strong, for they began during the British Mandate [period] in Palestine [British rule in Palestine began in 1920]. After the British Mandatory authorities issued a warrant for Al-Husseini's arrest, he fled to Germany. He first passed through Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey, and finally arrived in the capital of the Third Reich, [Berlin], where he stayed for four years. He sought to take advantage of the alliance he later formed with the MB and with Nazi Germany to expel the British forces from Palestine.
"According to a long series of documents, Al-Husseini played a role in forging the ties between Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and MB leader Hassan Al-Bana. The latter's plans exceeded those of Al-Husseini, for he sought to declare a caliphate in Egypt, seize power there and then expand and take control of the [entire] Arab and Muslim world…"
Photo from the article: "A document about the Palace Balcony Code from the British archives"
