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| The Nazi flag flying in Beit Omar (Photo Courtesy: Shneior Nachum Sochat, Tazpit News Agency) |
(The Blaze) Israeli settlers on their morning commute got quite the eyeful Monday morning when they saw a swastika-emblazoned red flag flying near a mosque in Beit Omar, a Palestinian village outside of Hebron.
Thousands of residents of Jewish settlements near Hebron and Bethlehem in Judea (the southern West Bank) drive to and from work on the road from which the flag was visible.
The Tazpit News Agency, which photographed the flying Nazi flag, reports residents “were astounded” to see the symbol under which millions of Jews were massacred during World War II now being prominently displayed by residents of a Palestinian town.
Uri Arnon, who saw the flag, told Tazpit News Agency: “I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to destroy us.”
Aryeh Savir of the Tazpit News Agency tells TheBlaze, “The IDF’s [Israel Defense Forces] Coordination Office of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) latest response is that they are waiting for members of the Palestinian electricity company to come in and remove it because it is on power lines.”
Beit Omar, also known as Beit Ummar, is located in a part of the West Bank known as Area B in which the Palestinian Authority runs the day-to-day civilian affairs, while the IDF is responsible for military and national security related issues.
There has been a history of Nazi sympathies among some Palestinians. Most notoriously, the Palestinian leader Haj Amin al Husseini who served as Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during the 1920s and 1930s, was an outspoken Nazi collaborator and even met with Adolf Hitler. He also recruited Muslims to serve in the SS. This famous photo with Hitler was taken in 1941.
Just last week, Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad was widely criticized for posting a column on Al Jazeera’s website in which he claimed that Zionism is anti-Semitic and that there is an “affinity between Nazis and Zionists.” Due to the outpouring of criticism, Al Jazeera removed the column form its site over the weekend.
