Mahathir's moderate Islam
Is not.
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA THE HON. DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD AT THE OPENING OF THE TENTH SESSION OF THE ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE PUTRAJAYA MALAYSIA, 20 SHAABAN 1424H (16 OCTOBER 2003), 10.00 AM
We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.
It goes on. And gets worse.
I thought I would have far more righteous indignation for Dr. Mahathir's hate-filled statements at the summit. But you know what? Why bother. Dr. Mahathir demonstrated that "moderate Islam" is really just a timesink, a holding pattern for when Muslims will do battle with the world.
Daniel Drezner writes it much better in The State of Islam -- 2003.
And yet, this man, the best that moderate political Islam has to offer, is rotten with flaws. Mahathir subverted his country's democratic traditions to suit his political purposes. He jailed his anointed successor for having the temerity to question whether the IMF might actually be correct. And the anti-Semitism is hardly new -- he blamed the Jews, specifically George Soros, for causing the Asian financial crisis.
That's right, Dr. Mahathir - blame the Jews. Because Muslims are always righteous, always taken advantage of, and never wrong.
Such a broken record.