KUALA
LUMPUR, April 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Malaysia’s
Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed said Monday, April 1, that the
“state terrorism” that Israel is engaging in is much more
dangerous than any other terrorist activity that any organization or
individual carries out, news agencies reported
Mahathir
was talking to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting
in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Monday, April 1, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Answering
a question, Mahathir said that “at this moment, yes… we see that
the Israelis are escalating their terrorism.” He added that
Israelis “are attacking civilians and a country’s leadership
without even formally declaring war on it. This is what we have to
recognize as terrorism.”
“The
entire world must condemn and forcibly stop Israel’s terrorist
acts.”
Mahathir
said this in front of representatives from 52 Islamic countries that
are meeting in Malaysia for three days.
In
the conference, Mahathir warned against double-standards used by the
U.S. in defining terrorism, “When the act of terror is being
carried out by their friends, it is excusable, but when the act is
being carried out by someone whom they do not care for or like, that
is not excusable," the prime minister said.
Mahathir
said the United States had been rallying support from the world
against terrorism, "but unfortunately the U.S. supported the
action by the Israeli government which also amounted to
terrorism."
Malaysia’s
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Monday called for a stronger
but constructive and collective response to the developments
affecting the Ummah in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks on the
United States.
Addressing
the opening session of the special session of the Islamic Conference
of Foreign Ministers on Terrorism here, he said that by taking such
a stance, Muslim would be fulfilling their obligations based on the
true teachings of Islam.
"Now
we see that the U.S. is the only country that has a difference of
opinion (on terrorism)...many of the European countries have now
voiced very strong objections to what the Israelis are doing in
Palestine," he said.
