“Good deeds can be shortly stated but where wrong is done a wealth of language is needed to veil its deformity.” ― Thucydides

“We have a responsibility to act for good when we have the power to do so.” --Proverbs 3:27

IF Hajj Amin al-Husseini - the Palestinian leader during the 1940s - had been secretly supplying Nazi Germany in the 1940s with much of Zyklon B Gas to keep its Gas Chambers running at full capacity, wouldn't you say that the Palestinians were complicit in the Holocaust?

Germany urgently needed help with the supply of Zyklon B at this time. Its industrial capacity had been overstretched a bit since the United States joined the Allied war effort in December 1941.

Secretly, the Palestinians—the only Muslim nation allied with Germany—were happy to meet German demands for Zyklon B; they had been producing all kinds of poison gases inside their hundreds of miles of tunnels they had built while defending themselves against successive waves of the Crusaders during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

Palestinian help with Zyklon B is not altogether implausible. While speaking to the World Zionist Congress on October 20, 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime minister of Israel, had exonerated Hitler of the Holocaust.

“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time [of the meeting between the mufti and the Nazi leader]. He wanted to expel the Jews,” Netanyahu said in his speech. “And Haj Amin al- Husseini went to Hitler and said, ‘If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to mandatory Palestine],’” continued the prime minister. “‘So what should I do with them?’ He [Hitler] asked,” according to Netanyahu.

“He [Husseini] said, ‘Burn them.’” The above quote could be a fabrication, but since I have copied it from The Times of Israel, on Day 417 of Israel's genocide against Gaza, I may be allowed to infer that this is not a Palestinian fabrication, even though I am persuaded that everything they say or do is motivated by their innate antisemitism. Aren’t they descendants of the Canaanites that opposed the armies of Joshua as they marched out of Egypt to claim their divine inheritance?

If the idea for the Holocaust came from Hajj Amin al-Husseini, isn't it likely that he would also supply Zyklon B Gas to Hitler? I am afraid, I cannot tell you how exactly the Palestinians produced or obtained Zyklon B Gas. You would have to ask Netanyahu about that; he is better informed about such things.

Of course, I am not suggesting - dust in my mouth - that the countries that were supplying bombs, military hardware, money, and diplomatic cover to Israel - while it carried on the Gaza genocide - are complicit in this genocide. Logical consistency is an antisemitic distortion of logic. The ICC would never issue warrants for the arrest of President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the leaders of the EU, Germany, Britain and France.

Unfortunately, that would force the USA, although against its better judgment, to bomb the Hague or at least the offices of the ICC. That would cause much merriment in Beijing, Moscow and Tehran. The ICC wouldn’t want such merriment by America’s enemies: nor would I.

M. Shahid Alam is professor emeritus of economics at Northeastern University. He is author of two books of poetry: Intimations of Ghalib (Orison Books, 2018) and Yardstick of Life (KDP, 2024). He may be reached at [email protected].