At the Organization of the Islamic
Nations Conference summit in October 2003, Malaysian Prime Minister
Mohammad Mahathir, the conference host, represented relations between
Muslims and Jews as a worldwide frontal confrontation, offering some new
examples of a “Jewish conspiracy.” His words were broadly applauded.
At the same time a European Union
summit was being held. There it was proposed to include a condemnation
of Mahathir’s anti-Semitic remarks in the summit’s final statement.
However, this was blocked by French President Jacques Chirac and Greek
Prime Minister Costas Simitis. Instead, the condemnation was delegated
to the Italian EU presidency.
The importance of the Mahathir
affair is that it has exposed in a short time and in a concentrated way
the profound anti-Semitic thought present among major layers of both
mainstream Muslim elites and Muslim society. The Mahathir affair is also
an important case study for the analysis of Western reactions to Islamic
anti-Semitism.
