Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is a frustrating fellow. When all is said and done, he’ll go down as the father of modern Malaysia, and even his critics have to admit that he’s done quite a lot to make his country a reasonably well-functioning nation. But then there are times - and I don’t know quite what sets him off - when he’s capable of saying the most stupid shit. Today was apparently one one those times:
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday told a summit of Islamic leaders that “Jews rule the world by proxy” and the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims should unite, using nonviolent means for a “final victory.”
His speech at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit, which he was hosting, drew criticism from Jewish leaders, who warned it could spark more violence against Jews.
Some choice quotes from the PM’s speech:
“The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy,” Mahathir said. “They get others to fight and die for them.”
“For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worst off than before,” he said. “If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy that can win us final victory.”
The prime minister, who has turned his country into the world’s 17th-ranked trading nation during his 22 years in power, said Jews “invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy” to avoid persecution and gain control of the most powerful countries.
Mind you, Malaysia isn’t exactly Taleban-ruled Afghanistan - by most accounts, it’s a fairly tolerant society and Mahathir probably deserves some credit for keeping it that way. But somebody’s got to tell the PM that when he goes out and makes statements like this, he’s doing nothing but harm to his reputation and that of the nation he leads. Unless Mahathir wants to go down in history as a racist bigot rather than the man who successfully lead Malaysia (almost) out of the Third World, he really must dispense with the Jew-baiting.
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Mahathir: “The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy,” Mahathir said. “They get others to fight and die for them.”
He doesn’t mention that Muslims, almost without exception, collaborated with the Axis Powers. The Mufti of Jerusalem, in particular, was an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis, along with Albanians and Bosnian Muslims. In addition, a large number of Nazis involved in war crimes against Jews found shelter in Arab countries after the war.
my first reaction was that someone needed to tell mahathir that the “protocols of zion” were a forgery. but then this is the same asshole who believes that there is a western conspiracy to reinstate colonialism in south east asia. and, come to think of it, i heard the same shit during the korean currency crisis, opps, imf crisis back in ‘98. more garbage from a well spoken bigot.
I saw the speech on CNN live and to say the least, was absolutely astounded. That anyone could spew such racist garbage while on international TV is astounding. Just what was our Great Doctor trying to prove. I certainly understand why Isreal maintains such a pro-active defence when such bile is spouted.
Dr Mattahir did nothing but further damage the image of Islam with his speech.
Len Peters