KUALA LUMPUR – Acts of terrorism carried out by Muslims in Western nations have hampered efforts by Islamic countries to form alliances with Christians to defend Jerusalem from Israeli occupation and oppression, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The former prime minister said the acts of killing perpetrated by Muslims have led Western countries, especially in Europe, to view its adherents as enemies.
“So, in a Christian country, when we (Muslims) are there, we carry out terror acts, therefore, they become our adversaries,” Dr Mahathir said.
“What happens is that we are adding enemies and not allies.
“Conversely, in Europe, many of them, including the Irish state, sympathise with us (Muslims). We need to get their cooperation to serve an objective that is similar to theirs.”
Dr Mahathir said this during the “Dialog Tiga Penjuru: Di sebalik senyuman Hamza” programme on Astro Awani this evening, which covered the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.
The talk, which was also attended by University of Oxford Islamic Studies Centre fellow Datuk Afifi Al-Akiti and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, touched on ways Muslim nations can help in the Palestinian struggle.
During the talk, Afifi pointed out that Western nations, such as Ireland, had proposed an “occupied territories bill”.
The bill would ban and criminalise “trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law”.
Dr Mahathir noted that, apart from Muslims and Jews, Jerusalem is inhabited by Christians who oppose Israeli occupation, a common interest shared by Muslims.
“If we are together with Christians, who are also oppressed there, I believe that Christian nations would be concerned, but we (Muslims) are enemies with everyone.
“If we stay in Europe, we explode bombs there, we bring trucks to kill 80 people; that makes them angry with us and makes them favour Israel.”
Dr Mahathir added that countries such as Malaysia do not have the capacity to wage war on Israel and would lose against the Jewish state, but collectively, Muslim nations had strengths, such as wealth and control of the world’s oil supply.
“We must study what we have and what we can do. We have our own strengths as the supply of oil is controlled by us.
“We must itemise our strengths and the strengths of our enemies, and make friends with whoever (who is part of our cause).”
Dr Mahathir cited an example of how Britain collaborated with Russia during World War 2 against Germany.
“If it was Britain alone (in the war), they would have been incapable of winning. But they cooperated with the US and even their enemies, Russia, and gained victory.
“We must have a strategy in whatever we struggle to achieve.”
Meanwhile, Hadi, who is also Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East, lamented over how Muslim nations are at the centre of proxy wars in the region, with some Islamic states constantly engaging in armed conflicts between themselves, such as in Syria and Yemen. – The Vibes, May 20, 2021
Terrorism in the West hampers fight against Israel: Dr Mahathir
Muslims must instead join forces with those, like Christians, who have common interest in defending Jerusalem, says ex-PM
Updated 5 years ago · Published on 20 May 2021 11:28PM
