Mahathir Urges Muslim Unity [Report from Arab News]

Arab News ^ | 17 October 2003 | Omar Salahuddin

[FourPeas]

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, 17 October 2003 — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday called on Muslims the world over to unite in the face of an attack orchestrated by Jews. He told a summit of Islamic leaders that “Jews rule the world by proxy” and the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims should use nonviolent means for a “final victory.”

Mahathir criticized the Jewish domination of the world and the Muslim nation’s inability to adequately respond to it as he opened the meeting of Islamic leaders from 57 nations.

“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.”

“We are up against a people who think. They survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking,” Mahathir said.

“For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine,” he said. “What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worse off than before. If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy to win us final victory.”

The Malaysian prime minister said that “1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews,” but suggested using political and economic tactics instead of violence.

The leaders gave Mahathir a standing ovation after his speech. Asked their general reaction, they said they found Mahathir’s analysis on target.

Other Muslim heads of state called for correcting the distorted image of Islam.

Jordan’s King Abdallah said: “The more serious challenge... facing Muslims is continuous efforts to link Islam and Muslims with terrorism.”

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said the OIC “has to tell the world that terrorism does not represent Islam, that terrorism is the enemy of Islam.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad said there was an “urgent need” for Islamic countries to explain Islam at home and abroad, as well as combat distortions by some Western institutions.

Eradicating violence carried out in the name of Islam cannot be achieved by military action alone, but also through cultural and intellectual education.

This should start with educating those who carry out such acts because of a misunderstanding of the religion, he said.

“Such practices directly harm Islam and provide ill-intentioned people with the pretext and justification to attribute to Islam various negative inhuman characteristics,” Bashar said.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said terrorist acts “have not only caused loss in human life and property but also have created false perceptions about Islam as a religion of violence and aggression.”

Megawati’s country has suffered two devastating car bomb attacks in the past year, blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiah.

Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, noted that Muslim countries also have rejected acts of terrorism. “In this respect, we declare our support of, and backing to, all measures taken to put an end to this phenomenon, and our resolve to positively contribute to the international efforts to this end.”

OIC Secretary-General Abdelouahed Belkeziz said “smear campaigns and blatant discrimination” against Muslims in some countries had intensified after the Sept. 11 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a message to the conference delivered by an aide, warned that “extremist dogmas are gaining ground, impeding the progress of the entire (Muslim) community and threatening the security of the people all over the world.”

[FourPeas]

Fascinating spin.

[FourPeas]

My apologies for the '&#'s.

[Brian Mosely]

While the lastest piece off the AP wire states that this all was a "misunderstanding"...

These guys seem to understand it pretty well....

[FourPeas]

Yup.

[FreedomPoster]

Fortunately, so do many of us. And I think there are more of us all the time.

[Snake65]

Other Muslim heads of state called for correcting the distorted image of Islam.

Distorted? The picture grows clearer every day, at least to me.

[TheOtherOne]

They are only upset that the world is actually listening now. They do not take anything back, in fact they repeat the claims.

Malaysia Apologizes for "misunderstanding" Over Statement That Jews Run World
By Patrick McDowell Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 17, 2003

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia, faced with angry criticism from the United States and Europe over comments made at an Islamic summit, apologized Friday for "any misunderstanding" over Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's assertion that Jews rule the world.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, struggling to contain the controversy wrought by his blunt-spoken boss, insisted he was not apologizing for Mahathir's speech itself on Thursday but said the remarks had been taken out of context.

Mahathir told leaders of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim grouping, that "Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

The speech drew immediate criticism from Israel and other countries and raised fears that it could fan violence against Jews. But it got a standing ovation from the kings, presidents, sheiks and emirs - including key U.S. allies - gathered in Malaysia's capital, Putrajaya.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said Mahathir has used anti-Israel statements in the past to prove he's tough on the West. But, he said, Thursday's speech was still worrisome.

"What is profoundly shocking and worrying is the venue of the speech, the audience and coming in the time we're living in," Cooper said in Jerusalem. "Mahathir's speech today is an absolute invitation for more hate crimes and terrorism against Jews. That's serious."

Mahathir had used allegations of Jewish dominance to buttress his chief point, that Muslims needed to embrace modern knowledge and technology and overcome divisions over religious dogma that have left them weakened on the world stage.

But the statements about Jews stood out, and condemnations were swift and unambiguous from the United States, the European Union, Australia and Germany, which summoned Malaysia's charge d'affaires in Berlin to protest the comments as "totally unacceptable."

"I'm sorry that they have misunderstood the whole thing," Syed Hamid, the foreign minister, told The Associated Press. "The intention is not to create controversy. His intention is to show that if you ponder and sit down to think, you can be very powerful."

Mahathir declined to speak to reporters who approached him Friday, telling them to wait until an evening news conference.

Syed Hamid said the world's Muslims were in a "quagmire" and feeling "sidelined or marginalized," reflecting a widespread perception in the Islamic world as the war on terrorism has evolved into U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Israel has increased repression of the Palestinians.

"Please forget about anti-Semitism," Syed Hamid told reporters.

He added that Mahathir's "message is to stop violence, which is not the answer for us to succeed in our struggle. People may not be very happy but this is the reality: the Jews are very powerful."

Syed Hamid noted that Malaysia has a state policy of religious harmony, in which the ethnic Malay Muslim majority lives alongside large non-Muslim Chinese and Indian minorities. The country is one of Southeast Asia's most modern and wealthy, and has jailed terror suspects without qualms.

"How can we be anti-Jew? It is far from the truth," Syed Hamid said.

Mahathir, a respected leader in the developing world with a long history of making articulate, provocative comments, is retiring Oct. 31 after 22 years in power. He told the Islamic leaders that Muslims had achieved "nothing" in more than 50 years of fighting Israel.

"They survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking," Mahathir said of the Jews. "They invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others."

Mahathir said the world's "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," but suggested the use of political and economic tactics, not violence, to achieve a "final victory."

In their reactions to the speech, most of the leaders at the summit focused on the aspects that Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher called "a good road map" toward Muslim empowerment.

Asked by the AP whether he thought the speech was anti-Semitic, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said: "I don't think so."

"Dr. Mahathir spoke of the inhibitions within the Islamic world and that those inhibitions must go away, and I entirely agree with that," Karzai said.

But State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called Mahathir's remarks offensive and inflammatory. "We view them with the contempt and derision they deserve," he said.

The leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels, Belgium, planned to adopt a statement saying the 15-nation bloc "deeply deplores" Mahathir's words, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

"The prime minister used expressions that were gravely offensive, very strongly anti-Semitic and ... strongly counter to principles of tolerance, dialogue and understanding between the Western world and the Islamic world," Frattini said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard called Mahathir's comments offensive and repugnant.

"Any suggestion from anybody anywhere in the world of dividing the world into Jewish and non-Jewish groupings is historically indefensible and wrong," Howard told Australia Radio.

Leaders at the summit included Karzai, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines were special guests because of their large Muslim minorities.

AP-ES-10-17-03 0726EDT

[Eric in the Ozarks]

What to do when confronted with rabid dogs ?

[TheOtherOne]

Asked by the AP whether he thought the speech was anti-Semitic, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said: "I don't think so."

[Bud Bundy]

From Fox news:

The speech drew immediate criticism from Israel and other countries and raised fears that it could fan violence against Jews. But it got a standing ovation from the kings, presidents, sheiks and emirs — including key U.S. allies — gathered in Malaysia's capital, Putrajaya.

I think that's the most telling thing, that the Nazi rhetoric drew a standing ovation from all the representatives of the "religion of peace".

[AmericanInTokyo]

This is bullshit. I heard the speech with my own ears. Especially the way the Prime Minister reeled off the words, 'the jeeeeewwwws' in that cringy, angry way. Word for word, this was on par with a Nuremburg speech by der Fuerher.

[mykdsmom]

I'm currently half way through a new book just published this year called: TERRORIST HUNTER by Anonymous

This is an amazing story about a Iraqi Jewish woman who's father was hung by Hussein's henchmen. She ended up escaping the country with her family and moved to Isreal. She and her husband and children ended up moving to the US where she has infiltrated these radical Muslim conventions and groups and has worn a wire and hidden video camera in order to get the word out about how dangerous these people are.

It looks like she is responsible for a lot of the information obtained on Sami al-Arian as well as multiple Muslim "charites" functioning as money laundering fronts for various terroist organizations.

It's frightening when she talks about how ineffective the FBI are against these organizations. She did better drawing the lines between Muslims in American and these so called charities with public information than the FBI did with all of their classified info. Great read, I highly recommend it.

MKM

[PsyOp]

He told a summit of Islamic leaders that "Jews rule the world by proxy" and the world's 1.3 billion Muslims should use nonviolent means for a "final victory solution.".

That's sort of how the Nazi's started. First the boycott, then Krystal Nacht, and finally the ovens.

"For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine," he said. "What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worse off than before. If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy to win us final victory."

Or, the Palis could have accepted the intial U.N. partition.

The Malaysian prime minister said that "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews."

Wanna bet?

Such practices directly harm Islam and provide ill-intentioned people with the pretext and justification to attribute to Islam various negative inhuman characteristics...

Just read the Koran, you'll find all the justification you need.

[Jack Black]

More on Malaysia - Here is part of their Constitution:

Article number: 3
3.

(1) Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

(2) In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observance or ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorize the Yang di-pertuan Agong to represent him.

(3). The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head of the religion of Islam in that State.

(4) Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.

(5) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.

[Jack Black]

And This:

Article number: 11
11.

(1) Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.
(2) No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.


(3) Every religious group has the right -

(a) to manage its own religious affairs;

(b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and

(c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law.

(4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Lubuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.

(5) This Article does not authorize any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.

[PsyOp]

Here is part of their Constitution:

Written by Malaysian lawyers no doubt. That first sentence is practically unintelligible, but I took it to mean that the head of the state and the head of the religion are one and the same and have nearly unlimited power.