PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysia's prime minister urged Muslims on Thursday to start using brains rather than brawn against Israel, telling an Islamic summit it was the only way to reverse 50 years of bitter defeat.
Mahathir Mohamad, a veteran leader with a reputation for speaking his mind, told delegates that the Jewish people, because of their relationship with the United States, had an influence in the world that far outweighed their numbers.
"It cannot be that there is no other way, 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," he said in an address opening the two-day summit.
"The Koran tells us that when the enemy sues for peace we must react positively. True the treaty offered to us is not favourable. But we can negotiate.
The Prophet did," he added. "And in the end he triumphed."
"The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy," Mahathir said.
"They have survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking," he said, observing the Jewish community's influence on major Western powers.
"This tiny community have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains as well."