I think this qualifies as a remarkable statement:
The Jews had always been a problem in European countries. They had to be confined to ghettoes and periodically massacred. But still they remained, they thrived and they held whole Governments to ransom. Even after their massacre by the Nazis of Germany, they survived to continue to be a source of even greater problems for the world. The Holocaust failed as a final solution.
That is Mahathir Mohamed, former authoritarian prime minister of Malaysia, not only giving his endorsement to the Nazi Holocaust, but also lamenting the fact that it didn’t succeed in wiping out every Jew. The remarks were just delivered at the General Conference for the Support of Al Quds (Jerusalem).
I don’t know who attended this conference — and presumably sat in respectful silence as Mahathir uttered those words. I do know that Mahathir Mohamed has positioned himself as a global leader on Palestine solidarity, and that American “leftists” such as Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party 2008 presidential candidate, have attended past events, such as the International Conference to Criminalise War and the Forum and Exhibition on Gaza Genocide, in which Mahathir has played a prominent role.
Very often we hear that Jews and allies who raise the issue of antisemitism are merely employing a “tactic” — i.e., making it up, crying wolf, attempting to silence criticism of Israel. If so, they’re doing an ineffectual job, for there’s no silence on the issue whatsoever.
And there shouldn’t be silence: Israel should be held to account for its human rights abuses, authoritarian practices and land-grabbing in the territories it occupies. (The record of Hamas toward Gaza Palestinians is hardly better [pdf], one must add.)
But Palestine solidarity activists who give Mahathir Mohamed a hearing, elevate him as a spokesperson for their movement, and congratulate themselves for their morally superior stance cannot feign surprise and outrage when they’re taken to task. And to the extent that they disallow and discredit all mention of antisemitism, it is they who are doing the silencing.
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Equally appalling: The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Holocaust deniers were at that Gaza conference. (McKinney posed with them for photos)
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=1100