On October 16, 2003, the then Malaysian Prime Minister claimed that Jews ruled the world. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the dictatorial 77-year-old leader, made his views known in his opening speech at a summit of Muslim leaders in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya. While his remarks were condemned around the world, they received a standing ovation at the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

The OIC, which brought together 57 national leaders representing more than a billion Muslims worldwide, was meeting for the first time since 9/11, and the U.S.-led war on terrorism dominated the agenda. One would think Malaysia’s Prime Minister would try to ameliorate Islam’s worldwide public relations problem, but as the BBC recounted, he did nothing of the sort:

In his speech, Dr. Mahathir called on Muslims to use brains as well as brawn to fight Jews who, he said, ‘rule the world by proxy.’ Jews, said the Malaysian prime minister, had ‘invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy’ to avoid persecution and gain control of the most powerful countries.1

Such anti-semitic stereotyping is nothing new for Mahathir; over 33 years ago he argued that “the Jews for example are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively.”2

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, hastily insisted that the statements had been taken “out of context”; it was a “speech addressed to Muslims asking them to work hard and affirm their personality . . . I’m sorry that they have misunderstood the whole thing.”3 However, others were more skeptical: the governments of the United States, Australia, and many in the E.U. criticized Mahathir’s comments. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, argued that the speech was a diatribe “that would have made Hitler and Goebbels proud” and Mahathir himself was a “dangerous racist whose hateful rhetoric is a virtual invitation for further antisemitic attacks.”4

The Malaysian PM, however, was unbowed, claiming that “the reaction of the world shows that they [Jews] do control the world” and that “there are not many Jews in the world. But they are so arrogant that they defy the whole world . . .”5 This sustained prejudice prompted the Simon Wiesenthal Center to call for an end to investing in Malaysia’s tourism or business as such prejudice could not go unchallenged; “with the exception of President Bush’s direct rebuke, Mahathir’s continuous anti-Jewish outbursts have been generally met with silent indifference and in the case of the . . . OIC Summit, standing ovations.”6 Not a single Muslim leader protested at the speech.

As the Prime Minister demonstrated, racial prejudice is a sin of the head as well as well as the heart, a perversion of the intellect as well as the spirit. For instance, it takes real determination to believe that democracy is evil and that the Jews rather than the Greeks invented it,7 but this Malaysian leader was willing to pay the price of such belief, namely the sacrifice of rationality. Hatred makes one do such things.

Unfortunately, this sort of talk about the Jews is rampant today in the Muslim world, and even in parts of the non-Muslim world. Many web sites parrot these sentiments and inflame unholy prejudice against the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of course, the Jews are sinners in need of the Savior, just the same as Arabs, Japanese, Scots, and other people groups. But no group’s fallibility warrants blanket defamation, and nothing can excuse glee, or even silence, at the hearing of such virulent slander.
Footnotes:
1

“Malaysia Defends Speech on Jews,” BBC News Website, October 17, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3196234.stm (accessed November 17, 2003).
2

“Mahathir in His Own Words,” BBC News Website, September 8, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3198105.stm (accessed October 8, 2003).
3

“Malaysia Defends Speech on Jews,” BBC News Website, October 17, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3196234.stm (accessed November 17, 2003).
4

“Mahathir’s OIC Diatribe Would Make Hitler and Goebbels Proud and is Warrant for Antisemitic Terrorism” (Press Release of Simon Wiesenthal Center, October 16, 2003), Simon Wiesenthal Center Website, http://www.wiesenthal.com/social/press/pr_item.cfm?ItemId=8345 (accessed November 17, 2003).
5

“Mahathir Is a Serial Antisemite: Inappropriate to Invest in Tourism or Business in Malaysia . . .” (Press Release of Simon Wiesenthal Center, October 16, 2003), Simon Wiesenthal Center Website, http://www.wiesenthal.com/social/press/pr_item.cfm?ItemId=8366 (accessed November 17, 2003).
6

Ibid.
7

Paul Cartledge, “The Democratic Experiment,” BBC.co.uk Website, January 1, 2001, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml (accessed May 16, 2005).

adopted from Kairos Journal

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