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Malaysia’s Mahathir Says He Does Not Fear Israel
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir said on Friday he did not fear criticizing Israel in the world arena.
At a dialogue with university students on Friday, Mahathir stressed that Malaysia would not establish diplomatic ties with Israel until issues affecting the Palestinians were resolved.
He said he made that very clear to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Malaysian Premier said the two, while they were in office, had written to him on the subject of establishing ties with Malaysia.
"But our stand, in as far as Israel is concerned, is very clear. That is why, until today, no ties whatsoever exist between Malaysia and Israel, although many other Muslim countries have done so.
"Our stand on Israel is strongly supported by the people, including the non-Muslims,'' he said in reply to a question during a dialogue session with students of the Universiti Putera (UPM).
Replying to a question from a student on whether Malaysia had any ties with the Jewish state, Mahathir remarked that the student would not have asked that question if he believed Malaysia did not have such ties with Israel.
He said it was lies from those (the opposition in particular) that made people believe the country had ties (secret or unofficial) with Israel.
"Actually, there are no ties at all between the two countries, and those who say this are lying. Telling lies should be avoided, especially during the fasting month.''
"Those who make such claims are spreading fitna [lies]. But this does not mean that I cannot write to them or vice-versa. It is true that Netanyahu wrote to me, asking Malaysia to establish diplomatic ties with Israel.
"The reply given was that the request would not be considered as long as the Palestinian issue was not resolved. When Barak won, I wrote to congratulate him, [but] in the congratulatory message, I stressed the need to respect the agreements reached on Palestine, but it was clear that he failed to do so."
The opposition in Malaysia, particularly the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), strongly condemned a message sent by Mahathir to Barak in the past.
The student, who also claimed to be a representative of the university's Muslim Students Association, had asked the Prime Minister to explain why Malaysia continued to have ties with Israel despite the country's cruel treatment of the Palestinians.
The Prime Minister said the government's policy on Israel was supported not only by Muslims but also non-Muslims in Malaysia.
Mahathir said Malaysia did not fear criticizing Israel although it (Israel) had wide networks and support in the world.
"If they do something wrong, like oppressing the Palestinians, we are prepared to air our views which are not influenced by any party."
The Prime Minister earlier accused his former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, now in jail for 15 years for abuse of power and sodomy, of having brought U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, an American Jew, to Malaysia.
He angrily said two weeks ago that critics have accused his government of having brought the Israel cricket team to Malaysia in which students demonstrated against the visit.
In 1999, at the height of the Anwar crisis in Malaysia, the opposition newspaper Harakah alleged several Malaysian Ministers and their children had secret bank accounts in Israel. This was strongly denied by the Malaysian government.
Israel is the only country to which Malaysians are prohibited to travel.
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