Mahathir Mohamad Quotes
When the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, Bush immediately identified what he thought was the true cause. It was because the Muslims were jealous of the freedom of the American people. It was because the Muslims were poor. This exposes a lack of understanding of things on his part.
Mohamad, Mahathir. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Mahathir Mohamad. MPH Group Publishing, 2011, p. 770.
The attitude of the non-Muslims at that time was based on the Muslim attacks in the Punjab on Sikhs where entire Sikh villages and neighborhoods in towns and cities were murdered—every man woman and child. In many cases women were first raped. The Muslims had been whipped up by the leaders of the Muslim League to put terrorist pressure on the Sikh, Hindu and British to meet the League's political and territorial demands for an Independent Pakistan. Soon there was retaliation in kind and there were many Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims engaged in internecine slaughter and behaving "little better than animals".
Just days before September 11. While in America, such a remark would just be considered an insensitive and inappropriate utterance, in France, he was brought before the courts and threatened with jail and a large monetary fine under a 1972 French law which bans hate speech. See {595311}
This is a very important historical quotation in that it shows the extensive degree of anti-Catholic prejudice that existed in America in the late 1930s. Most of the anti-Catholic feeling was based in the absurd but real belief of millions of Protestants that the Pope was trying to control America. Then there was the fear and that American Catholics would take political direction from the Vatican and the Catholic bishops. The perception of the Church was hundreds of years out of date. Most of the anti-Catholic bias reduced along with anti-Semitism in the remainder of the 20th century as Americans became much more religiously tolerant. By the 21st century, religious prejudice still existed but it was limited to a small group of Americans whose views were generally condemned by the American mainstream of thought and opinion.
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad is a Malaysian politician, statesman, author and doctor who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia from July 1981 to October 2003 and again from May 2018 to March 2020. He served as the 4th Deputy Prime Minister and in many other Cabinet positions before his promotion to the premiership in July 1981. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Langkawi since May 2018, Kubang Pasu from August 1974 to March 2004 and Kota Setar Selatan from April 1964 to May 1969. His political career has spanned more than 70 years, starting with his participation in protests against non-Malays gaining Malaysian citizenship during the Malayan Union through to forming his own political parties, the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) in September 2016 and the Homeland Fighters' Party (PEJUANG) in August 2020.
