Muhammad al-Ashmar (1892-1960): corrupt Islamic Sheik, pro Nazi, then working for communism

Per 1957 article | 1957

[Milagros]

Muhammad al-Ashmar (Arabic: محمد الأشمر) (1892 – March 3, 1960: Racist-Arab Islamofascist:

* Corrupt guy.

* Murdered Syrians.

* Rebel commander.

* Extorted money from Syrian Jews, on advice from the Mufti al-Husseini, for fake orphas in Mandatory-Palestine.

*Pro-Nazi during WW2.

*Post war, working for the communists.

Congress Weekly. United States, American Jewish Congress, 1956, pp. 5-7.

January 23, 1956

The Soviet's Arab "Peace Hero" By Itzhak Ivri

The STALIN PEACE PRIZE, ONE OF THE HIGHEST honors given by the Soviet Union, may have a shorter history than that of the Nobel peace prize, but it is to the East no less an important distinction than the Nobel prize has been to the West. With changing history, there have also been changes in the degree of importance of the candidates and winners. But there was never any doubt as to the deciding voice -- the voice of the Soviet Government and the Communist Party.

In the not too distant past, the Stalin peace prize was given to individuals in various countries who had distinguished themselves as pacifist leaders . Later , the prizes were awarded to "progressives" who dem-onstrated warm friendship for the Soviet Union.

In the past few years, the prize became a reward to Soviet agents abroad who were active and successful in that role. It is an axiom in the Soviet Union that whatever aids Communism and Russia aids the cause of world peace. With this as an axiom, there has been from the Russian standpoint no deterioration over the years in the standards used to select persons for the Stalin peace prize. And yet, it is shocking for anyone who sincerely believes in the cause of peace and admires this lofty ideal and its greatest protagonists to compare the earlier Stalin peace prize winners with later ones- to compare, for instance, a man like Romain Roland with the latest winner, a certain Sheik Mohammed el Ashmar of Damascus.

By Soviet standards Sheik Mohammed is fully deserving of the 1955 Stalin peace prize.

He was the founder of the pro-Soviet "peace committee" in Damascus several years ago, and of similar committees throughout Syria.

Actually, he began his activities as a Soviet agent in Syria more than seven years ago , when the able Daniel Solod, now head of the Middle Eastern Department in the Soviet Foreign Ministry and "spiritual father" of the Czech-Egyptian arms deal of 1955, arrived in Damascus as a young and brilliant diplomatic representative of the Soviet Union in Syria.

Sheik Mohammed el Ashmar, who had led a life filled with intrigue, felt at that time rather like a lost soul.

A former Nazi agent and close associate of the notorious Jerusalem ex-Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, he found himself jobless after World War II, and especially after the debacle of the Arab armies in Palestine in 1948.

He came to Daniel Solod with a proposition. He told him about his active past and great influence in Syrian politics, as well as in the Arab nationalist movement in Asia and Africa. He was ready he said, to serve as the main organizer of a new pro-Soviet party in Syria. (The Communist Party in Syria never attained great influence or large membership.)

Solod immediately perceived a useful tool in the fifty-three year old Sheik. The latter's fascist-Nazi past, his Jew-baiting, and his pogrom and extortion activities did not disturb Solod. After all, in East Germany, many former Nazi war criminals and their followers were finding that they could erase their past by joining the militia or the Soviet espionage service . Solod, the head of Soviet espionage in the Near East, under cover of diplomatic representation, had full power to decide and to select likely candidates for the Soviet service.

He picked Sheik Mohammed as the most suitable "torchbearer of peace " in the Near East.

When Solod was transferred to a higher and more responsible post as Soviet ambassador in Egypt, where he achieved the most important Soviet diplomatic and strategic victory in the Middle East since World War II, he did not forget his first and most efficient agent in an Arab land -- Sheik Mohammed el Ashmar of Damascus.

He warmly recommended him for the Stalin peace prize. Since Solod is regarded very highly in the Soviet diplomatic hierarchy, his recommendation was as important as Khruschev's great esteem for Solod himself . And thus the Arab Sheik received the high distinction of the Stalin peace prize and a tidy sum of money for his faithful services as a Soviet agent.

THE LATEST AWARD of the Stalin peace prize is highly significant. It is proof, if proof were needed, of a total change in Soviet policy in the Middle East. It reflects the Soviet's complete pro-Arab orientation, and is indicative of its resolution not to rely any more on small and weak Communist organizations in the Middle East, but to seek close alliances with fascist, Nazi and military cliques as well as with fanatical religious leaders such as the Jerusalem ex-Mufti.

Now there is nothing new in this Soviet decision to embrace and exploit reactionary elements. Such a policy has been pursued in Germany and other European countries. The main difference is in the scale and the tempo of executing this policy. The Soviet has been unusually quick to send arms to Egypt and to honor Nazi agents and murderers with the highest prize that the Soviet Union has to offer.

This extraordinary eagerness testifies to a great urgency and determination on the part of the Soviet rulers.

In this obscene haste to honor and encourage those who carry forward its policy in the Middle East, the Soviet Union has cast aside the most elementary considerations of character and principle. Let us examine the paragon on whom it is bestowed its latest award — the sixty-year-old Mohammed el Ashmar of Syria.

He was born in Bloudan, a summer resort for wealthy Syrians which also serves as a convenient meeting place for various politicians and leaders of the Arab League . Since his youth, el Ashmar has distinguished himself as an adventurer, opportunist, and revengeful fanatic. Before he was twenty he shot a cousin of his who had slapped him for misbehaving. His father, a wealthy man, succeeded in bribing the Turkish authorities and saving the youngster from punishment.

Money and connections were of help also in the Turkish army where he quickly became an officer during World War I. When the Turks fared badly against the English he decided to switch sides and joined the Bedouins under Lawrence's command . But he did not stay with them long. He stole military documents from the English and put them into German hands. Since then he has been a professional spy.

In the early 20's he spied for the French, but later he attached himself to the Jerusalem ex-Mufti and served him well as a supplier of arms and so-called "volunteers" against the small Jewish community in Palestine under the British Mandate. He acted the role of the dedicated Moslem patriot, but did not forget at the same time to cash in on his activities .

As an Arab nationalist and organizer of terrorists, he was able to extort money and kill people in Syria without fear of punishment.

In fact, at various times, he was accused of eight murders by Syrian-Arab families. Once he was imprisoned for a month to await trial. But the revolt of the Druses broke out and the French freed him from prison for "political reasons."

In 1936, he became an energetic organizer of Syrian "volunteers" for the purpose of engaging in the "Arab revolt" in Palestine under the "spiritual leadership" of the then Mufti, Haj Amin. The Mufti promised him great rewards in Palestine but advised him in the meantime to extort money from the Jewish communities in Syria.

He took this advice: he threatened the Jews of Damascus and demanded a ransom of one million Syrian pounds for "the benefit of the orphans" of the Palestine disturbances. Only when he was convinced that the Jews were unable to raise more than 250,000 pounds did he accept that sum.

At the same time he was cautious enough to operate within Syria and never crossed the border of Palestine. His headquarters were in Southern Syria, a few miles from the Palestine border, and from there he directed the transports of arms and volunteers to the Mufti of Jerusalem and commander of the Arab forces, Fawzi Kaukji.

During the critical years, 1940-42, when England and Western Europe were fighting for their existence, Sheik Mohammed el Ashmar enjoyed his greatest prosperity.

First, he tried to contact fascist Italy. He went to Tripoli and succeeded in getting an audience with Mussolini, who styled himself "the defender of Islam," and who was prepared to undertake the conquest of Africa.

But soon this ardor was dampened by a string of military disappointments. So was the Sheik's decision to join forces with the Italians.

He decided at that juncture to ally himself with the Nazis who were at that time scoring some triumphs in Africa. In this, he was following the example of his mentor, the Mufti of Jerusalem, who was busy intriguing with the Nazis. It was at that time that a clique of Iraqi officers were planning to revolt in Baghdad against the English.

The Mufti's volunteers were prepared to force the English out of Palestine and kill off the Jews. In Syria and Lebanon only slight resistance by the French was anticipated in view of the Vichy situation. The time, in short, looked auspicious for an Arab-Nazi alliance, and Mohammed el Ashmar went off to Berlin , as did the Jerusalem Mufti, to become the personal guest of Baldur von Schirach, the Nazi Youth Leader. But the Sheik's optimistic plans did not work out. He had counted on a successful revolt in Iraq under the Arab - Nazi general, Rashid Ali, which would open the gates of all Middle Eastern countries to Nazi - Arab rule. But Rashid's rout, thanks to a quick march of a military column from a Palestinian base, upset the Nazi plans.

How highly Sheik Mohammed was esteemed by the Nazi plotters can be seen from the fact that the chief agent of Nazi Germany in the Near East before the war, a certain Grube, considered him a most valuable assistant in Syria -- " a close associate of Haj Amin that the Jerusalem Mufti has recommended very highly."

THERE IS LITTLE SURPRISE in the fact that the Sheik after the war should easily have found employment in the Soviet espionage service. It was natural for a special friend and associate of the pro-Nazi ex-Mufti of Jerusalem, who is now in Cairo and promoting the Soviet cause. Nor is there cause for surprise in learning that he is the latest Stalin peace prize recipient.

One should not underestimate his importance in the Soviet's campaign in the Middle East.

But it is difficult to overlook the question: why should the Soviet have honored only Sheik Mohammed el Ashmar? Why reward a junior partner of the Jerusalem ex-Mufti? Why not Haj Amin himself ?