War Dance or Job Application.

by Steven Shamrak.

After the infamous speech at the opening of the 10th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference by departing Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir many, unfortunately not all, have condemned the speech. The focus, mainly and mistakenly, is only on anti-Semitic aspects of the speech.

US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called the speech offensive and inflammatory. Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was "a desecration of the memory of 6 million victims of anti-Semitism." But, French President Jacques Chirac, backed by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, has blocked the European Union from adopting a few short sentences deploring Mahathir's speech.

Malaysia's foreign minister Syed Hamid told The Associated Press: "The intention is not to create controversy. His intention is to show that if you ponder and sit down to think you (Muslim) can be very powerful." "The PM's message is to stop violence (temporary), which is not the answer for us to succeed in our struggle…”

The truth is more complex and simple at the same time. Actually, the speech is mostly anti-Western and anti-Christian (European, Australian or American does not make a difference). Here are some points of Dr Mahathir’s speech for your perusal:

“We are all Muslims. We are all oppressed. We are all being humiliated…The early Muslims were as oppressed as we are presently (by Christians)…at one time there was not a single Muslim country which was not colonized or hegemonised by the Europeans (by Christians)…The Muslims will forever be oppressed and dominated by the Europeans and the Jews…

We need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships for our defense… We have to buy our weapons from our detractors (Europeans) and enemies (Americans)… if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategize and then to counter-attack…. Even today we have sufficient assets to deploy against our detractors. It remains for us to identify them and to work out how to make use of them to stop the carnage caused by the enemy…

We are now 1.3 billion strong. We have the biggest oil reserve in the world… We control 50 out of the 180 countries in the world (57 out of 192). Our votes can make or break international organisations… To begin with, the governments of all the Muslim countries can close ranks and have a common stand…. As Muslims we must seek guidance from the Al-Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet… We know he and his early followers were oppressed by the Qhuraish. Did he launch retaliatory strikes? No. He was prepared to make strategic retreats. He sent his early followers to a Christian country (many millions of Muslims have moved to Europe, Australia and US during last 20 years)… During the peace that followed he consolidated his strength and eventually he was able to enter Mecca and claim it for Islam… It is winning the struggle that is important, not angry retaliation, not revenge… The Prophet did, at Hudaibiyah. And in the end he triumphed…” (It is the reference to the truth the Prophet Mohamed did not honor. The same way, Arabs do not observe any agreement with Israel.)

We must not forget that this speech was made one week before Dr Mahathir is retiring as Prime Minister of Malaysia. Therefore, at the same time, it could be an application for a job. Most likely, the job he is looking for is the head of a Muslim organisation in charge of planning of triumphal return of Islamic world domination.