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October 24, 2003/Tishri 28 5764, Vol. 56, No. 5
Jews wonder about Mahathir fallout
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - The only things worthy of attention about the recent speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad are his remarks about Jews and the accolades those comments drew from his mostly Muslim audience, leaders of Jewish groups are saying.
"We were outraged by his com-ments, and by the applause he received by the leaders of the Arab world," said Rebecca Dinar, spokes-woman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
President Bush's press secretary said the president castigated Mahathir privately this week, and members of Congress have introduced motions to condemn the Malaysian prime minister.
Mahathir told his audience, which included heads of state from an array of Islamic nations, "The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy: They get others to fight and die for them."
He also said the Jews invented "socialism, communism, human rights and democracy" to help them gain "control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power."
Some commentators have suggested that Mahathir's speech last week at the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference deserves a second reading, beyond the anti-Semitism that initially earned it headlines.
In his column Oct. 21, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said Mahathir's anti-Semitism was "inexcusable" but that other parts of the speech were "worth reading."
Mahathir used the Jewish example to exhort Muslims to stop blaming others for their plight, Krugman wrote.
Krugman also wrote that Mahathir's anti-Semitism was "almost surely part of Mr. Mahathir's domestic balancing act."
"Poppycock," said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "This is what they said in the 1930s about Hitler. Hitler talked about education and employment, but first, 'We've got to get rid of the Jews.' "
The challenge now is to maintain the outrage, said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee. "This is a good test case in terms of international reaction to bigotry: Is it condemnation followed by business as usual, or are there teeth to the denunciation?"
Foxman said he was disappointed not only that leaders of moderate Arab nations - such as Morocco and Jordan - failed to walk out when Mahathir made his remarks, but that European leaders at a European Union summit failed to criticize Mahathir.
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