Mahathir Mohamad, who steps down in a few days’ time as Malaysia’s prime minister after 22 years in office, is not a man to shirk controversy. However, his assertions of Jewish dominance at the Islamic Summit last week have resulted in a tide of international outrage which threatens to do serious damage to Malaysia. His foreign minister has now apologized, saying that no offense was intended and that the remarks have been taken out of context.
Islam is not anti-Jewish and must never be represented as such. But Muslims are opposed to Israel and Mahathir’s speech was very much anti-Israeli. But it was, first and foremost, a blistering attack on the Muslim community for its lack of unity, will and action against Israel, apart from suicide bombs, which he condemned. Muslims have only themselves to blame for Israel’s power and strength, he argued. In its 50 years’ struggle against it, the Muslim world had achieved “nothing”.
The references to Jews were in fact a call to Muslims to emulate the Jews’ own response to oppression. It is worth quoting him. “They (the Jews) survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking... 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... With these they have gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power... We cannot fight them through brawn alone, we must use our brains, also.”
As it happens, Jews did not invent any of these things, certainly not democracy or human rights. However, Jewish thinkers and activists were associated with their advances and as a people they have benefited accordingly. As a result they are seen across much of the world as a people who uphold human dignity and embody the highest moral values. Yet the state that personifies them and with which they identify is exactly the opposite. It crushes and oppresses; it throws human rights to the wind; and few Jewish voices express their repugnance.
If Mahathir had meant what he was quoted as saying it would indeed have been appalling. Assertions of Jewish dominance sound uncomfortably similar to the anti-Jewish propaganda of the early 20th century which led to the gas chambers. But no one in their right mind could imagine Mahathir as a latter-day fascist. If there is criticism, it is that he has allowed himself to be swept along by hyperbole and exaggeration. Jews no more control the world than do Muslims or anyone else. The language, out of context, was deeply unfortunate. It would be tragic and wrong if those words were taken as an invitation for hate crimes and terrorism against Jews.
