mahathir lashes out at jews, page-63

re: ypsilon- mahathir lashes out at jews- Malaysia says reaction on Jews remarks misplaced

By Reuters

SYDNEY - Malaysia said on Sunday widespread anger
over comments about Jews by the country's prime
minister was terrible, and insisted Mahathir
Mohamad's remarks were only an accurate reflection
of the undeniable power of Jews worldwide.

Mahathir provoked an outcry when he said that Jews controlled Western powers by proxy. The United States, Israel, Australia and the European Union accused Mahathir of anti-Semitism.

"It's most unfortunate, the reaction that has come out is terrible," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in an interview on Australian television.

"They (the Jews) are very, very influential and
strong in many countries. You cannot deny the
fact that the Jewish economic power is
tremendous. Their lobby is tremendous. So
what's wrong in saying that. You are not saying
'Kill all the Jews'. You say, 'Take the example
of the Jews', he said on Channel Nine's
"Sunday" program.

"Arabs are also Semites. Whenever a Jew says
that Semites only refer to Jews, then it
becomes an accepted thing. So that's how
powerful the Jewish lobby is - the control of
the media, by the Jewish community. But that
should not create anti-feeling against them,"
Syed Hamid said.

He said Mahathir, who made his remarks on
Thursday in a speech to a summit of Islamic
leaders in Malaysia, had intended to remind
Muslims that if they wanted to be successful
they must think, plan and not use aggression.

The Jews had "real power" because they had
worked hard and successfully achieved knowledge
and influence, he said.

"They have got a lot of special privileges. And
yet we tend to ignore this," he said.

Malaysian PM says France's Chirac 'understands'
his remarks about Jews
Mahathir has thanked French President Jacques
Chirac for blocking a European Union
declaration condemning his comments on Jews,
news reports said Sunday.

Chirac, backed by Greek Prime Minister Costas
Simitis, stopped the EU from ending a summit
Friday with a harshly worded statement
deploring Mahathir's speech.

EU leaders then compromised by having Italian
Premier Silvio Berlusconi, the summit host,
criticize Mahathir at his closing news
conference.

Berlusconi said Mahathir's comments undermined
efforts to bring different religions closer.

"All of our efforts must go toward a dialogue
between the Western world and the Islamic
world, between Christian religion and Islamic
religion," he said.

A French diplomat, who asked not to be named,
said while Chirac disagreed with Mahathir's
strident views, he argued that an EU summit
declaration "would not have been appropriate."

The French presidency denies supporting the
Malaysian prime minister.

But Malaysian newspapers said Mahathir had
expressed his gratitude to Chirac for his
"understanding" of the speech he made at the
57-nation Organization of the Islamic
Conference, the world's largest Muslim
grouping, in Malaysia last Thursday.

Mahathir said he had feared Muslims would be
more angered by the speech, which was also
critical of Muslims.

"I never thought the Europeans would be against
me," the New Sunday Times quoted him as saying.
"I can't understand them. I'm glad that Chirac
at least understands. I would like to thank him
publicly."

Mahathir said that "anybody who reads the whole
speech through will understand what I said,"
the Sunday Star reported.

Mahathir's comments caused a storm of
controversy, with the United States, Canada,
Germany, Britain, Australia and Israel branding
the remarks outrageous.