[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 158 (Tuesday, November 4, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REPUDIATING ANTI-SEMITIC SENTIMENTS EXPRESSED BY DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, 
                  OUTGOING PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 4, 2003

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, Malaysia's Prime Minister 
Mahathir Mohamad made repugnant anti-Semitic statements when addressing 
the tenth Islamic Summit Conference.
  Madam Speaker, I denounce and condemn this statement as dangerous, 
morally bankrupt and beyond the pale of civilized dialogue. His 
statement comes directly out of the Hitler playbook, and reflects 
centuries of anti-Semitism that have led to pogroms and genocide. 
Jewish, Muslim, or agnostic, black, white, yellow, or pink. We are all 
appalled by words and actions that spread hatred.
  Prime Minister Mahathir has a long history of making unambiguous 
anti-Jewish utterances and actions and he has time and again identified 
himself as an implacable enemy of Jews.
  Prime Minister Mahathir was an anti-Semite in 1970 when he wrote of 
the ``hook-nosed'' Jews. He was an anti-Semite in 1984, when he 
wouldn't let the New York Philharmonic play a composition by a Jewish 
musician, and in 1986, when he called Jews ``monsters.'' He was an 
anti-Semite in 1994, when he banned ``Schindler's List'' and in 1997, 
when he attacked George Soros as a Jew robbing his country. And, 
indeed, he is an anti-Semite today.
  In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Prime Minister Mahathir 
complained that his remarks had been taken out of context. ``They 
picked up one sentence where I said that the Jews control the world,'' 
he protested, declaring that the reaction proved ``they do control the 
world.''
  On the contrary, the reaction of most of the international community 
reflects the obvious: Prime Minister Mahathir is a bigot; an 
irresponsible and incendiary, nauseating prejudist.
  Nevertheless, it got a standing ovation from the kings, presidents, 
sheiks and emirs--including key U.S. allies.
  I am disillusioned that the moderate voices in the Arab world also 
remained silent. The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, called the 
speech ``a very, very wise assessment.'' Asked by the AP whether he 
thought the speech was anti-Semitic, Afghan President Hamid Karzai 
said: ``I don't think so.''
  In addition, I am especially outraged by the actions of French 
President Jacques Chirac and Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis to 
block the inclusion of a condemnation of Mahathir's anti-Semitic speech 
in the official statement of an EU summit.
  Mahathir is retiring Oct. 31 after 22 years in power. Good riddance!

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