Reddit mentions of Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World

If I start asking everyone whether they liked Hitler or not, it wouldn't be long before they figured out the negative connotations of such a question, and not only would the results probably be useless, but it could also cause problems for me at work. "Do you like Hitler" isn't something one generally goes around asking people if one values his job.

Nevertheless, I plan on asking the other strong English speaker (the issue will have to be approached delicately, of course), but he works on another shift, so I will have to wait until I switch shifts to do so. Until then, I'll have to settle for other methods of research. It's something that just sits in the filing cabinet in the back of my head until an opportunity arises for me to do more research, such as SaudiDude's AMA here.

I also bought and am in the process of reading Hans Kung's book on Islam, which is supposed to be excellent and without bias. I was going to buy another one about Nazi propaganda in the Arab world by one Prof. Jeffrey Herf, but decided to first read the one by Kung to lay the foundation for further research.

Note that just because my Iraqi friend claimed this, or that SaudiDude half-heartedly confirmed it comes nowhere near to proving this true in my mind. I require much more evidence than the opinions of two arab Muslims to close the book on this issue. Because this lends itself to politicization so easily, liberals have a tendency to believe I'm an Islamophobe or something when I ask questions such as these (which I'm sure SaudiDude also now believes) - but I just want to know whether it's true or not.

Hell, if it turns out to be true, I probably won't even tell anyone who would really care about it because a) it's such a potentially inflammatory issue, and b) most westerners would probably think I was crazy to claim such a thing anyways. I just want to know for myself.

> What does the United States have to gain from lying about Gaza being occupied? What do the EU and UN have to gain?

The UN is a membership organization made up of countries and some organizations (in a consultative position). Look up who the voting members of it are and make a list with your own classifications along the lines of "democratic", "authoritarian", "totalitarian". Put each voting country in one of the columns. Think about whether you see a pattern in the voting behavior.

The EU - oil, a sense of "Maybe if we vote their way terrorism won't reach our country."

The US - perhaps the same. Perhaps landing rights for its planes in the war on terror. Perhaps diplomatic support on other issues.

I'm not saying that they are the only countries that have what might be called a 'deceitful' or a 'hypocritical' foreign policy (or that they even have such). And I'm not saying that they don't have other concerns or interests other than what I've listed here.

> The only conclusion I can come to with only information from the IDF and no information from anywhere else is "I don't know."

It doesn't seem to me that you are taking an "I don't know" position. It seems that you are taking a "The IDF is wrong, but I don't know how it is wrong and I'm not sure if it wrong here, but I will disbelieve them anyway."

> > Hamas is highly secretive due to the nature of the organization itself, not as a result of the state that Gaza has been in for some time. Hamas is an authoritarian (at the very least) organization that wants to impose a theocratic state on the people that live in the territory it rules.

> You don't think it has anything to do with reasonable paranoia from decades of having to deal with spies and other state of the art intelligence services?

Hamas is an offshoot of The Society of the Muslim Brothers (aka The Muslim Brotherhood, or The Brotherhood). It as been like that for years before Israel was even founded.

> > By self-sufficiency, do you mean having the funds to carry out social welfare and infrastructure-building? If so, you should do some research and find out just how much money the world community has supplied the PA with over the past 10 years or so. (Hint: well over $500,000,000 since the beginning of 2010!)

> Of course.

Well, what are your findings on how much money the PA has received from the world community in the past 10 years or so?

***

With all respect, I think that you are basing your opinions on an idealized notion of what you would like the situation to be, rather than what it is.

If I may be so bold, may I suggest some reading for you?

A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel, by Walter Lacquer

Israel: A History, by Martin Gilbert

Palestine Betrayed, by Efraim Karsh

Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World, by Jeffrey Herf

The Flight of the Intellectuals, by Paul Berman

I don't have any connection to Amazon and don't get paid to shill for them.