International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, October 22, 2003

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stood by controversial remarks made to the world’s biggest gathering of Muslim leaders last week, insisting in a Tuesday interview with the Bangkok Post that the Jews do rule the world - and the international outrage over his remarks proves it.

One of Mahathir’s senior officials meanwhile called visiting US President George W. Bush "rude" on Tuesday for taking the Malaysian premier aside at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Thailand and telling him his comments were "wrong and divisive."

Responding to a question from Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper at a press conference on Tuesday, Mahathir was unrepentant, insisting that he would be willing to come to Israel to explain his charges only if the leadership of world Jewry would first explain why they refer to Muslims as terrorists.

The thrust of Mahathir's address, made at the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, was that the world's 1.3 billion Muslims had been outmaneuvered by "a few million Jews" and needed to embrace new technology to defend their interests peacefully.

But he also stated that Jews ruled the world and exercised power by getting other people to fight and die for them. In defending the remarks last week, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar apologized for any offence caused, telling the Associated Press that, "the only problem with the Jews is when the State of Israel was created."

When asked on Tuesday to clarify his remarks, Mahathir insisted that, "the Jews have all the world behind them," and therefore are able to "defy the United Nations."

After 22 years in charge of one of predominantly Muslim Malaysia - Mahathir is one of the most senior Asian statesmen -- and well known for blunt statements against the West. He is due to retire at the end of this month.

Meanwhile in Syria vice president Zuhair Masharqa did his best not to be outdone by the Asian leader’s outburst, telling an Arabic language conference in Damascus that Israel has committed 'genocide' against the Palestinians with American 'protection, support and care'.

Masharqa called on the international community to exert more pressure on Israel "to force Israel to comply with peace requirements and commit itself to peace obligations" that would lead to security and stability in the region.