Malaysian Prime Minister Refuses to Apologize for Remarks on Jews
(CNSNews.com) - Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister of Malaysia, said on Friday that he would not apologize for a speech he made a day earlier in which he claimed that "Jews rule the world by proxy" and "get others to fight and die for them."During a news conference held after a two-day summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the 77-year-old Mohamad charged that Western countries employ a double standard regarding criticism of Jews and Muslims.
"Lots of people make nasty statements about us, about Muslims," the prime minister stated. "People call Muslims terrorists, they even say...Muhammed the prophet was a terrorist.
"People make such statements, and they seem to get away with it. But if you say anything at all against the Jews, you are accused of being anti-Semitic," Mahathir added.
The prime minister also claimed during his speech on Thursday that Jews "invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy" to avoid persecution and gain control of the most powerful countries.
Mahathir said that "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," but he suggested using political and economic tactics instead of violence.
"Because we are discouraged from learning of science and mathematics as giving us no merit for the afterlife, today we have no capacity to produce our own weapons for our defense. We have to buy our weapons from our detractors and enemies," the prime minister said.
The audience at the summit gave Mahathir a standing ovation afterward, and none of the participants from 57 Islamic nations denounced the prime minister's comments about the Jewish community.
Since then, however, the speech has been strongly condemned from many corners of the world.
"The remarks of the prime minister make evident the unfortunate fact that anti-Semitism, racism, and ethnic and religious hatred are alive and well at the highest levels around the globe," Joseph Grieboski, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, said Friday.
Grieboski called on Mohamad to "recant his remarks and apologize to the Jewish community for his bigotry and fanaticism.
"Mahathir's speech is an unconditional call for more hate crimes and terrorism against the Jewish people," Grieboski added.
Instead of responding directly to the Malaysian prime minister's speech, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), reacted to the reaction it evoked.
"We greatly appreciate those in the international community who took a strong stand against the incendiary anti-Jewish scapegoating of Mahathir's speech," Foxman said. "In particular, we recognize the European Union, Italy, Spain and Germany for their important comments and efforts to rightly denounce and condemn this speech as anti-Semitic, dangerous and morally repugnant."
Foxman also had something to say to countries on the other side of the controversy.
"We are appalled and outraged by those who acquiesced, were silent or even supported Mahathir's speech, including those Muslim nations who were in attendance at the conference," Foxman stated. "By their disgraceful behavior, these countries are willingly complicit in spreading these words of hate."
Mahathir is expected to retire at the end of October after 22 years in office. When asked to comment about the prime minister's speech, an aide in the Bush administration told The Age newspaper: "We hope he has a happy retirement."
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Islamic Leader's Comments on Jews and the West Condemned by Some (Oct. 17, 2003)
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