Shocking

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad today said that "Jews rule the world by proxy" and called on Muslims to unite to achieve "a final victory" over them. To quote:

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. For well over half a century, we have fought over Palestine. 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 that can win us final victory.

Because his speech included calls for nonviolent means to reach this "final victory," and because he called for more education and science in the MUslim world, he is being hailed as a hero by other Muslim leaders. For example:

“I think it was a shrewd and very deep assessment of the situation,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, without commenting on the remarks about the Jews. “I think he elaborated a program of action that is wide and very important. I hope the Islamic countries will be able to follow this very important road map.”

I am not impressed, and I imagine few would be, by the "without commenting on the remarks about the Jews" caveat.

The Israelis have condemned the speech, of course, and rightly so. We have yet to comment officially. I don't have any commentary on this, but I wanted to report it. I am sickened and shocked, but I suppose I shouldn't be - this sort of thing is nothing new. I can only hope our comment, when it comes, is as harsh as it is possible to be.
- posted by Anonymous @ 5:38 PM