Here's more from our esteemed fren:
Mahathir hits back at critics of Jewish
remarks
KUALA LUMPUR, : Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad hit back
against those who condemned him for saying that Jews rule the world
but were silent when the Muslim Prophet Muhammad was called a
terrorist.
"Are we not allowed to say that we are angry with the Jews? Are the
Jews some kind of creature who cannot be condemned in any way?"
Mahathir asked when questioned by reporters about the fierce
international criticism of his remarks.
He said he knew a lot of Jewish people and was not against them,
the official Bernama news agency reported.
"I am against those Jews who kill Muslims and the Jews who support
the killers of Muslims," he was quoted as saying.
Mahathir said that he did not care if the Europeans, who were among
his major critics, did not like him.
"I have European friends. But when they do something wrong, I am
going to tell them that it is wrong.
"You say that you are not under the influence of the Jews and yet
when I criticise the Jews, the whole of the European Union wants to
condemn me.
"But when somebody condemns the Muslims, calls my Prophet
(Muhammad) terrorist and all that, did the European Union say
anything? Which shows that they are under the thumb of the
Jews."
US Christian fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell called Muhammad
a "terrorist" in a television interview in September last year,
sparking outrage in the Muslim world.
More recently, a United States general has been under fire for
casting the war on terrorism as a Christian struggle against Satan,
but retains his post as deputy undersecretary of defense for
intelligence.
Lieutenant General William Boykin recalled in a speech how a top
lieutenant of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, Osman Otto,
boasted on CNN he would never be caught because Allah would protect
him.
"Well, you know what?" Boykin was quoted as saying. "I knew that my
God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his
was an idol."
Mahathir regularly points to such utterances as proof of double
standards applied in western countries.
Asked Monday why some Muslim leaders did not openly express support
over his remarks about Jews, Mahathir said that possibly they were
afraid that action would be taken against them.
"They are much weaker than we are. They may have more money but
they are still dependent upon the Europeans.
"Because of that, they are reluctant to make their voices heard but
privately of course they will support," he said.
At the weekend, Mahathir said a call by a US-based Jewish lobby
group for an economic boycott against Malaysia over his remarks may
hurt economically but the country would not give in to
"blackmail".
The influential Simon Wiesenthal Center last week called on
investors and tourists to avoid Malaysia after Mahathir branded
Jews "arrogant" and accused them of controlling the world by
proxy.
- AFP
wah... he is so intelligent and brilliant!
