[lbo-talk] Mahathir: Jews rule the world

[kjkhoo at softhome.net]

He's wrong to equate Jews and israel, but that's Mahathir (and many 
others, including Israel's self-identification as "the Jewish 
state"). But Mahathir's surely not wrong in saying that Israel 
exercises a significant weight with US foreign policy and that 
Muslims might learn from that, absorbing the lesson of the futility 
of violence at this juncture?

Whatever, the reactions of western capitals -- esp in view of the 
contemporaneous reports about that US under-secretary's speeches re 
the satanic Muslims, and the writings of such as Lewis and Pipes, 
etc., not to mention Friedman -- is sanctimonious cant.

And, speaking as one of those lumped as "lords of the pacific rim", 
"the bamboo network", etc., I've got to say I feel little sympathy 
for academics and others who are quick to jump to it when mention is 
made of Jews who today are at little risk of any real pogrom, but 
contribute famously to analyses of E Asia economic performance by all 
too easy reference to the role of the Chinese, with loose talk and 
career-enhancing articles of the so-called Chinese diaspora lumping 
together the very many tens of millions who are no more diasporic 
than the many Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, Slavs in the US, e.g. 
or even more, the many more Anglos in Canada, the US, Australia and 
NZ. While it is no longer permissible in respectable company to talk 
of Jewish control of the US this or that, it is not only respectable 
but seemingly well-founded academic wisdom to go on and on about the 
Chinese control of the economy, etc. Pick up virtually any summary 
article on Malaysia and there it will be: the Chinese dominate the 
economy. Heck, that was said thirty years ago when foreign ownership 
of corporate equity was running at close to 70%, and the bulk of 
large plantations and tin mines were foreign owned.

kj khoo

At 9:15 AM -0400 16/10/03, Doug Henwood wrote:
>Mahathir tells Muslims: use brains against Israel
>Thu Oct 16,12:52 AM ET
>
>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.