Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mocks Jews At Cambridge, Audience Laughs
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during the 25th International Conference on The Future of Asia on May 30, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. Image by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
(JTA) — An audience filled with students at Cambridge University laughed as Malaysia’s prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, unleashed a stream of anti-Semitic statements.
Mohamad spoke Sunday evening at the Cambridge Union, known as the world’s oldest debating society, at a question-and-answer session with Adam Davies, the speakers officer of the union.
“I have some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews, that’s why they are my friends,” Mohamad, a notorious anti-Semite, said in response to a question about previous anti-Jewish statements.
Some in the audience laughed with no response from the moderator Davies. Mohamad also said he was entitled to freedom of speech in order to speak “against the Jews.”
The Cambridge Union said later in a statement that those who laughed were part of Mohamad’s delegation and not its student members.
“The prime minister was scrutinized on his record throughout the event both from the moderator and the audience,” the statement also said.
Daniel Kosky of the Union of Jewish Students told the London-based Jewish Chronicle: “It is chilling to see a crowd of students laugh off flagrantly anti-Semitic comments. Freedom of expression is not a joke when it incites hatred against one people.”
The Union of Jewish Students and the Board of Deputies of British Jews had appealed to the Cambridge Union to cancel Mohamad’s appearance.
Mohamad, 93, wrote in his 1970 book “The Malay Dilemma” that “the Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively.” He also has questioned the fact that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, saying the figure was 4 million.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
