Jewish Groups Want Stronger Reaction to Malaysian PM's Comments
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Jewish groups, outraged at comments made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, want to see the international community take a stronger stand against the blatant anti-Semitism.
Speaking in Malaysia last week, Mahathir told a gathering of Muslim leaders that Jews "rule this world by proxy" and that Muslims should be able to "stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategize and then to counter-attack" in order to defeat the Jews.
Mahathir, who is due to retire after 22 years in power at the end of this month, received a standing ovation from the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
The United States, along with Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany, was among a handful of countries that strongly opposed the speech. But Jewish organizations say the world community needs to confront the issue more strongly.
"It's a very clear reflection of the distorted world view of the Islamic world," said Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem.
In a "microcosm," it explains why there is Islamic fundamentalism, terror directed against the West and no peace agreement in the Middle East, Zuroff said in a telephone interview.
"It is not only his (Mahathir's) view. It is shared in all the Arab capitals and by all the Arab leaders [with the exception of Turkey and few others]," Zuroff said.
"The world is mired in anti-Semitism...The problem has to be dealt with in an extensive way. The comments have to be denounced [as] simply unacceptable parlance," he added.
Zuroff said that such statements should cause the world to "lift the red flag" and tell Mahathir he is out of the "game" in the international community. The fact that he was cheered is "simply outrageous," Zuroff said.
"His anti-Semitism is classic and needs to be repudiated from the highest levels," said Laura Kam-Issacharoff, director of the Jerusalem office of the Anti-Defamation League.
"His words amount to a call for global war against the Jews by the Muslims. It's an outrageous affront to society," Kam-Issacharoff said.
Although Mahathir has made outrageous statements in the past, Kam-Issacharoff said, the fact that he could come out in such a forum and spew anti-Semitism was "very out of the ordinary."
According to Kam-Issacharoff, not only did Mahathir receive a standing ovation, but not one country of the 57 represented at the summit walked out or said anything against the speech.
She said the ADL was thankful for the Western countries that came out against the comments but said that other countries need to do so as well.
Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and education center in Jerusalem, wrote to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, urging him to denounce Mahathir's statement and demand that the Malaysian prime minister retract his words and call on leaders of the other countries at the OIC to disown the statements.
Shalev asked Annan to encourage OIC countries and others to educate their populations against hatred and stereotypes and offered Yad Vashem's assistance in doing so.
"Many Western countries have denounced Mohamed Mahathir's anti-Semitic statements, because their leaders remember and understand the close connection between words and action," Shalev wrote, according to a press release.
"Anti-Semitic stereotypes have again become commonplace in much of the world. This time, they are frequently intermixed with anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism, and anti-globalization. In the twentieth century, humanity learned that the leap from words to genocidal actions can be very short," Shalev said in his letter.
"The answer is education, which is mankind's main tool to keep criticism within the bounds of legitimate discourse and to prevent words of incitement from turning into acts of genocide," he added.
One source, who did not want to be named, said that the entire Jewish community was taking Mahathir's comments very seriously and was trying to think of ways to deal with it.
Since making his original comments, Mahathir has refused to apologize and has continued to defend his viewpoint.
On Tuesday, a correspondent from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz asked Mahathir at a press conference in Bangkok if he would consider visiting Israel.
"I would [visit Israel] after the Jewish leadership would go to Muslim countries and explain why they call Muslims terrorists," Mahathir replied. "That would be fair. Then I will go to Tel Aviv and explain why I said what I said," he added.
Asked to explain his earlier speech, Mahathir said, "My speech was very clear. I said that the Jews have all the world behind them -- and that's why they can defy the United Nations.""
www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
