Malaysia’s ‘proudly antisemitic’ prime minister submits resignation
Mahathir Mohamad has described Jews as 'hook nosed' and wrote in 2010 in a blog entry that he was 'proud to be antisemitic'
Malaysia’s “proudly antisemitic” prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has resigned.
The 94-year-old prime minister’s office said in a brief statement that he had submitted his resignation to the palace but gave no further details.
The resignation came amid plans by his supporters to join forces with opposition parties to form a new government and thwart the transition of power to his named successor Anwar Ibrahim, replaying their decades-old feud.
Mahathir, whose previous remarks drew condemnations from Jewish groups, wrote in 2010 that he was “proud to be antisemitic.”
In an interview with the BBC programme HARDtalk in 2018, he disputed the historical consensus that six million Jews perished in the Holocaust – claiming the figure to be four million.
In the interview, he reiterated previous descriptions of Jews as “hook nosed” and pinned the blame for conflicts in the middle-east on Israel’s creation.
In a 2012 entry, he wrote: “I am glad to be labelled antisemitic. How can I be otherwise when the Jews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaust show the same Nazi cruelty and hard-heartedness towards not just their enemies but even towards their allies should any try to stop the senseless killing of their Palestinian enemies.”
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