'EAGLE OF SALADIN' OR A NAZI RIP-OFF?

Look closely at the Eagle of Saladin on Palestinian and Egyptian flags, head turned right, wings tucked in military precision, claws gripping a shield with eerie familiarity. Now compare it to the Reichsadler, the Nazi eagle clutching a swastika wreath. Coincidence? Hardly. 

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, first cousin of Yasser Arafat (once removed), meets with Nazi top brass S.S. head Heinrich Himmler in 1943.

This isn't some 12th-century relic; it's a post-WWII copycat, right down to the red, white and black colours, born from Arab leaders' cozy alliances with Hitler and flooded with fleeing Nazi experts who refuelled the Middle East's anti Jew hate. Of course they'll deny it, that's what they do. As will those gullible enough to have fallen for this stuff all this time. I understand that reaction, it's never easy to admit when you've been duped, especially when you've bled so much time and emotion into a 'cause'. But it's this very human trait they rely on to keep you in the net. Pride, ego, wilful ignorance, all the old favourites.

Flashback: The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, godfather of Palestinian nationalism and first cousin (once removed) of one Yasser Arafat, spent WWII in Berlin, broadcasting anti-Jewish rants on Nazi radio and recruiting Muslims for the SS. 

al-Husseini with Hitler

He wasn't alone; thousands of Nazis escaped to Egypt and Iraq via "ratlines," embedding themselves in militaries and governments, training officers and setting up organisations replete with their own shiny new emblems etc'. Egypt's 1952 revolution? Perfectly timed after this influx, adopting this carbon copy of the Nazi eagle just as Nasser rose with his own Nazi advisors like Johanna von Königsmark whispering in his ear. 

Egyptian flag adopted in 1952, red, white and black as per German swastika flag with new Nazi eagle at the centre. 

Iraq followed suit in 1959 where of course they'd just some years earlier, at the behest of some of the same people, indulged themselves in a serious massacre on the Iraqi Jewish population, Palestinians of course followed quickly thereafter in the '60s.

Why the sudden "revival" of a dusty old bird right when ex-Reich men were calling the shots? Ancient Saladin eagles? Of course, they existed, they even minted them onto coins after his death, although that was more in recognition of his brother, the double-headed variety, flowing tails, no rigid shield or that tell tale rightward glare, and certainly no Nazi-style "markings" like the laurel wreath or angled perch. 

Proponents of the myth usually wave vague Crusades banners, but the modern version? Straight out of the Third Reich playbook, stripped of the swastika to avoid being openly related.

The godfather of Palestinian nationalism gives Nazi troops the Zeig Heil salute.

It's genius propaganda: Slap on a "heroic" Islamic label to launder the hate. Western liberals eat it up; "Oh, ancient symbol of unity!", while ignoring how it echoes the very regime that industrialized Jewish genocide. This eagle isn't about pride; it's a dog whistle for eradicating Jews, dressed in Saladin's robes to reel in the gullible. Wake up, symbols lie, historical facts don't.