What a speech! Interesting speech by MAHATIIR of Malasia

[Paragon]

SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER THE HON. DATO SERI DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD AT THE

OPENING SESSION OF THE XIII SUMMIT MEETING OF THE NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT AT

PUTRA WORLD TRADE CENTRE, KUALA LUMPUR ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2003

 

Date:24 February 2003

1. On behalf of the Government and People of Malaysia, may I extend a very

warm welcome to all of you to Kuala Lumpur to this XIII Summit of the

Non-Aligned Movement.

 

2. It is indeed a great honour for Malaysia to host this Summit Meeting and

to assume the chairmanship of the Movement.

 

3. As the host, Malaysia is gratified at the high level of participation in

spite of the uncertainties of the international situation today. This

clearly demonstrates our continued and abiding faith in, and commitment to

our Movement and our collective wish and determination to strengthen our

unity and cohesion.

 

4. I take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to the Republic of South

Africa, in particular His Excellency President Thabo M'beki, for his and his

country's outstanding stewardship of our Movement for the past four years a

little longer than they had bargained for when they assumed the Chairmanship

at our Summit Meeting in Durban. We congratulate them for the admirable way

the Republic of South Africa has held high the banner of NAM despite

cynicism about its relevance.

 

5. We are also gratified that under South Africa's leadership our Movement

has intensified the serious and critical examination of our organisation and

has initiated some important steps towards its revitalisation a process

which Malaysia will pursue with the help and cooperation of the members of

NAM.

 

6. This Summit Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, the first to be held in the new

century, indeed the new millennium, is taking place at a most crucial time.

The world now lives in fear. We are afraid of everything. We are afraid of

flying, afraid of certain countries; afraid of bearded Asian men, afraid of

the shoes airline passengers wear; of letters and parcels, of white powder.

The countries allegedly harbouring terrorists, their people, innocent or

otherwise are afraid too. They are afraid of war, of being killed and maimed

by bombs being dropped on them, by missiles fired from hundreds of miles

away by unseen forces. They are afraid because they would become the

collaterals to be killed because they get in the way of the destruction of

their countries.

 

7. The preparations and the measures taken to ensure security go on

frantically. Trillions of dollars are spent by the world for new weapons,

new technology, new strategy; the deployment of forces and inspectors

worldwide. Those who cannot afford these security measures must simply await

their fate and trust in God. Yet despite all these, terrorist attacks have

taken place where they are least expected, killing the collaterals again.

There is still no guarantee that the well dressed, clean shaven family man

next door might not become another hijacker, crashing his aircraft into

buildings and killing collaterals.

 

8. In the meantime the economy of the world has slowed down and in some

instances has been reversed, with huge deficits burdening countries. Jobs

are lost and poverty is increasing even in the rich countries. No new

investments in foreign countries or at home. With the threat of war oil

prices have shot up, increasing further the economic and social burdens of

the poor countries.

 

9. Aid for the poor has practically stopped and loans are not available as

the poor countries defaulted and defaulted again.

 

10. Truly the world is in a terrible mess, a state that is worse than during

the East West confrontation, the Cold War. All the great hopes following the

end of the Cold War have vanished. And with the terrorists and the anti

terrorists fumbling blindly in their fight against each other, normalcy will

not return for quite a long while.

 

11. Surely at some stage we must ask ourselves why this is happening to the

world. Why is there terrorism? Is it true that the Muslims are born

terrorists because of the teachings of a prophet who was a terrorist? How do

we explain the pogroms, the inquisitions and the holocaust which

characterised Christian Europe for almost 2000 years? Why did the Jews

choose to seek haven in Muslim countries whenever Christian Europeans

persecute them? Do people seek safety in the land of terrorists? Does not

sound very likely.

 

12. The Christians too were terrorised, not by Muslims but by fellow

Christians who condemned them as heretics. They were persecuted, tortured,

burnt at the stakes for their beliefs and forced to migrate. Seems that, the

Muslims did not have a monopoly of terrorism, certainly not on the scale of

the holocaust, the pogroms and the inquisition.

 

13. So it cannot be that Muslims are the sole cause of all these problems.

If they are not then is it a clash of civilisation, a clash of the Muslim

civilisation against the Judea Christian civilisation, that is responsible.

 

14. Frankly I do not think so. Frankly I think it is because of a revival of

the old European trait of wanting to dominate the world. And the expression

of this trait invariably involves injustice and oppression of people of

other ethnic origins and colours.

 

15. If we care to think back, there was no systematic campaign of terror

outside Europe until the Europeans and the Jews created a Jewish state out

of Palestinian land. Incidentally terrorism was first used by the Haganah

and the Irgun Zvai Leumi to persuade the British to set up Israel. The

Palestinians were actually ejected from their homes and their country and

forced to live in miserable refugee camps for more than 50 years now.

 

16. It is the struggle of the Palestinians to regain their land that has

precipitated, first conventional wars, then civil protest and eventually

violent demonstrations. The Israelis demanded European support to atone for

European crimes against them in the past. In desperation the Palestinians

finally resorted to what is described as acts of terror. Rightly, this is

condemned by the world. But the world does not condemn as acts of terror the

more terrifying acts of the Israelis; the massacres in Sabra and Shatila,

the shooting and killing of children, the use of depleted uranium coated

bullets, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes while the occupants are still

in them, the helicopter gunships etc. And Israel is now threatening to use

nuclear weapons.

 

17. This blatant double standards is what infuriates Muslims, infuriates

them to the extent of launching their own terror attacks. If Iraq is linked

to the Al Qaeda, is it not more logical to link the expropriation of

Palestinian land and the persecution and oppression of the Palestinians with

September 11? It is not religious differences which angered the attackers of

the World Trade Centre. It is simply sympathy and anger over the

expropriation of Palestinian land, over the injustice and the oppression of

the Palestinians, and Muslims everywhere. If the innocent people who died in

the attack on Afghanistan, and those who have been dying from lack of food

and medical care in Iraq, are considered collaterals, are not the 3,000 who

died in New York and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals whose deaths are

necessary for the operations to succeed?

 

 

18. Actually the life of any human being is sacred, no matter if the person

is a friend or an enemy. That is why war is not a solution. A contest based

on who can kill more people in order to establish who is the Victor and who

the loser, worst still in order to determine who is right and who is wrong

is primitive and does not speak well of the so called high level of

civilisation we have achieved. The greatness of a nation should be based on

a culture that values high moral qualities, aesthetics, learning and

advancements in the sciences. Unfortunately thousands of years after the

stone age we still measure the greatness of a nation by the capacity to

slaughter the greatest number of people.

 

19. But the oppression and injustice is not confined to waging war and

killing people; there is oppression in ideological propagation. We are now

allowed only a democratic system of Government. We admit it is by far the

best system of Governments. But applying sanctions, starving people, denying

access to medicine in order to force the acceptance of democracy hardly seem

to be democratic. Actually millions have died because they have not

converted to this new religion. And millions more are suffering because they

are unable to make democracy work, because of the resulting anarchy.

 

20. Relieved of the need to compete with the Communists, the capitalist free

traders have ceased to show a friendly face. Their greed knows no bounds.

They want countries which had fought hard to gain independence, to give up

that independence, to do away with their borders, to allow the capitalists

free access to do what they like to the economies of these countries. They

call this free competition. As they merge and acquire each other, they

become monstrous giants against whom the small businesses in the developing

countries will not be able to compete. What is the meaning of competition if

you cannot win at all. In the end a few of these monsters will control the

economy of the whole world.

 

21. The sad thing is that they are not above cheating and corruption. And we

know they can fail. We have seen how spectacularly they fail losing 100

billion dollars in one year. And that is only one corporation.

 

22. Then there are the rogue currency traders who destroyed the economies of

half the world, threw tens of millions out of work, bankrupted banks and

thousands of businesses, cause the collapse of Governments and precipitated

anarchy; all so that half a dozen individuals can make billions for

themselves.

 

23. Now the rich give no more aid. They do not lend either. And all the time

the international agencies they control try to strangle the debt laden poor

countries which had been attacked by their greedy market manipulators.

 

24. The disparities between rich and poor widen daily. The rich have per

capita incomes of more than 30,000 US Dollars, the poor only 300 US Dollars.

Still the rich want to squeeze out literally the last drop of blood from the

poor.

 

25. It is this which plague the word today, this oppression of the poor by

the rich; this injustice, this inequality. To nib salt into the wound the

poor are always being told that they lack transparency and good governance,

they don't respect human rights, they don't uphold freedom of speech,

freedom of the press and so on and so forth, when in fact it is the rich who

lack transparency, who do not respect human rights, who curb our rights to

speak the truth about what they are doing, who use their media to hide their

misdeeds and spread lies. How else can we interpret the operations of the

hedge funds and the currency traders, sanctions and the systematic bombings

of certain countries, the impoverishment of the already poor, and the

censorship of news as well as distorted and fabricated reports about the

south.

 

26. The fact is that the poor countries have been and are being oppressed

and terrorised by the rich countries. Naturally the poor are bitter and

angry and have lost faith in justice and honour. And the last straw which

caused them to resort to futile and destructive terror attacks is the

blatant support for state terrorism as practised by Israel and others. If

Israeli terrorism is a response to Palestinian terrorism, then Palestinian

terrorism, and terror acts by their sympathisers must be due to the

expulsion of Palestinians from their land, the further occupation of

Palestinian territory and the open support for Israeli intransigence and

terrorism by the Europeans. But the developing countries must admit that we

are also responsible for the mess the world is in today. We have not used

our independence and freedom to develop our countries for the good of our

people. Instead we have been busy overthrowing our Governments, setting up

new Governments which in turn would be ov!

erthrown. We have even killed our own people by the millions. And

frequently, frustrated with anarchic democracy we resort to autocratic

Governments, exposing ourselves to much vilification.

 

27. The result of this confrontation between the haves and the have nots,

the developed and the developing is a word that is practically ungovernable.

Despite all the advances in science and technology, the world is in a

terrible state. With more than enough food to feed the six billion people of

the world, fully one in six is actually underfed, starving, with hundreds

dying daily.

 

28. Since Sept 11, the rich and the powerful have become enraged with the

poor half of the world. And their extreme measures to ensure security for

themselves have only amplified the anger of the oppressed poor. Both sides

are now in a state of blind anger and are bent on killing each other, on

war.

 

29. War solves nothing. War is primitive. Today's war is more primitive than

stone age wars. The targets are not the fighters, the combatants. The target

is the ordinary civilians, the women, children and old people. Whether it is

terror attacks or military action, these are the victims.

 

30. In primitive wars the carnage is witnessed by the warriors. While the

suicidal terrorists die with each attack, the great warriors who press the

buttons see nothing of the mangled bodies, the heads and limbs which are

torn from disemboweled bodies, the blood and the gore of the innocent people

who an instant before were living people like them. And because they don't

see, the button pressing warriors and the people who commanded them go back

to enjoy a hearty meal, watch TV shows or moral boosting troop entertainers

and then retire to their cosy beds for a good sleep. Tomorrow they would

make more sorties, to carpet bomb more children, women and old people or

they would press more buttons to send missiles to tear off more heads and

limbs.

 

31. War is about slaughtering people. Newer and more brutal weapons are

being invented to kill more people more efficiently. And now there is talk

that the use of nuclear weapons is justified. Is it because the people to be

slaughtered are chromatically different? Is it because they cannot hit back?

 

 

32. Our meeting here today is a meeting of Heads of States and Heads of

Governments. We must admit that our organisation has not been as effective

as it should be. We may want to remain uninvolved and to avoid incurring the

displeasure of the powerful countries. But our people are getting restless.

They want us to do something. If we don't then they will, and they will go

against us. They will take things into their own hands. Unable to mount a

conventional war they will resort to guerrilla war, to terrorism, against us

and against those they consider to be their oppressors.

 

33. They cannot be ignored any longer. We cannot incarcerate them all for we

do not always know who they are or where they are.

 

 

34. Sept 11, has demonstrated to the world that acts of terror even by a

dozen people can destabilise the whole world completely, put fear into the

hearts of everyone, make them afraid of their own shadows.

 

35. But their acts have also removed all the restraint in the countries of

the north. They now no longer respect borders, international laws or even

simple moral values. And they are now talking of wars, of the use of

military conquests in order to change Governments. They are even talking of

using nuclear weapons.

 

36. It is no longer just a war against terrorism. It is in fact a war to

dominate the world i.e. the chromatically different world. We are now being

accused of harbouring terrorists, of being Axis of Evil, etc. NAM has a lot

of problems and issues which it must tackle. But at the moment the most

important threat that we face is the tendency of the powerful to wage war

when faced with opposition to the spread of their dominance. We cannot fight

a war with them.

 

37. Fortunately many of their people are also sick of war. They have come

out in their millions to protest the warlike policies of their leaders. We

must join them. We must join their struggle with all the moral force that we

can command.

 

38. War must be outlawed. That will have to be our struggle for now. We must

struggle for justice and freedom from oppression, from economic hegemony.

But we must remove the threat of war first. With this Sword of Democles

hanging over our heads we can never succeed in advancing the interests of

our countries.

 

39. War must therefore be made illegal. The enforcement of this must be by

multilateral forces under the control of the United Nations. No single

nation should be allowed to police the world, least of all to decide what

action to take, when.

 

40. Globalisation must not be confined to the exploitation of the wealth of

the earth only. Globalisation must include the multilateral protection of

countries threatened by war or hegemony.

 

41. There must be a new world order in which power is shared equitably by

all. The United Nations must be reformed. It must no longer be bound by the

results of a world war fought more than half a century ago. Everyone must

disarm. Weapons of mass destruction must be disallowed for all. And there

should be no more research into making conventional weapons more lethal.

 

42. If it is right for an international agency in a globalised world to

oversee human rights, business practices and the kind of democracy practised

by countries, then a truly International Agency beholden only to the United

Nations General Assembly should oversee the military budget of all

countries, big and small. Trading in arms must come under United Nations

supervision. Brutal ethnic cleansing must be stopped by a multinational

standing army.

 

43. When Japan was defeated, it was allowed to spend only one percent of its

GDP on its armed forces. If such a condition can be imposed on Japan, why

cannot it be imposed on all countries?

 

44. In the struggle to outlaw war and control arms, nuclear as well as

conventional, NAM will find growing support from among many people in the

North. It is a daunting task nevertheless. But unless we take the moral high

ground now, we will wait in vain for the powerful North to voluntarily give

up slaughtering people in the name of national interest.

 

45. Again I would like to say that NAM must struggle to outlaw war. NAM must

struggle to outlaw nuclear weapons. NAM must struggle to stop the research

and development of more and more lethal so called conventional weapons. NAM

must struggle to control the arms trade.

 

46. We must work for a new world order, where democracy is not confined to

the internal governance of states only but to the governance of the world.

We must work for the revival of the United Nations and multilateralism. We

must work to do away or modify the powers of the victors of a war fought

half a century ago.

 

47. We know we are weak. But we also know we have allies in the North. They

too want the abolition of wars, the slaughter of people for whatever reason.

They may not agree with us in everything. But in the opposition to war very

many will be with us. They are ready to oppose their warlike leaders. We

must work with them.

 

48. This then is our struggle. We are not irrelevant. We are not

anachronistic. We have a vision, the vision to build a new world order, a

world order that is more equitable, more just; a world order which is above

all free from the age old belief that killing people is right, that it can

solve the problems of relations between nations.

 

49. For all these we must revitalise the Non Aligned Movement. And that

vitality can only come from our closing ranks and acting together.

 

50. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak before this august

assembly. Malaysia pledges to work vigorously to oppose war including the

war against Iraq and to ensure the success of this our Movement.

 

 

Prime Minister's Office

PUTRAJAYA

www.smpke.jpm.my

 

 

for more speeches please log on.www.nam2003.com

[AUN]

Datuk Seri Mahatir Mohamed is one of the still able speakers that we have in the Muslim World though he only uses retorick instead of deeds but still better than others who oly have one option and that is yes to the West. Here is another speech he gave during his latest visit to Tokyo Japan

 

Mahathir asks Japan to urge U.S., Europe to understand Islam

 

TOKYO — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggested Friday Japan can play a role in attaining peace in the world by urging leaders of the United States and European countries to have a better understanding of the Islamic community.

 

In a keynote address at a United Nations symposium on Islam at U.N. University in Tokyo, Mahathir also called for a halt to oppression of Muslims around the globe, saying democratic powers should allow for more differences and plurality.

 

The outspoken prime minister also emphasized that while people have come a long way in advancing technologies, including development of weapons of mass destruction, the growth in their moral values have not been able to catch up with the speed of globalization.

 

"I think Japan has a very good role to play," said Mahathir, who is visiting the country for five days through Monday. "What we expect of Japan is to balance. You have no quarrels against the Arabs, you have no quarrels against the Jews, you have no quarrels against anybody."

 

He emphasized, however, that Japan should see the situation in a rational way and figure out the true reason behind the animosity that exists between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly the U.S., Europe and Jews.

"If the Arabs who before were not terrorists are today willing to commit suicide in order to fight against the Israelis or Americans, there must be a reason for it. And the reason is that they feel that Americans and the Jews and the Europeans have been unjust to them," Mahathir said.

As an exemplification of such injustice, he said the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is a result of Europeans opting to create a Jewish state in Palestine and creating Israel by "forcibly expropriating Arab land and property and expelling the Palestinians from their country and their homes."

He recommended Japan persuade the U.S. and Europe that building a security and defense system is not the "total answer" and that they should also resolve the problems involving perceptions among Islamic people that they are being oppressed.

The 76-year-old leader said he believes Muslims around the world, particularly Palestinians, are being subject to much injustice and oppression by powerful nations, causing some to resort to extremist and "senseless" terrorist activities.

"We seem to be living in a very unfair and unjust world," Mahathir remarked, adding the large and powerful democracies are forcing their ideas on the weaker members of the world community.

"Today, you are only allowed democracy. 'If you are not democratic, I will starve you to death, I will apply sanctions, I will bomb your countries.' But is bombing a country democratic?" he asked.

He said the reason the strong have come to dominate the weak rather than trying to protect and make life better for them is that civilizations have not caught up with scientific advances.

"Human values have not kept pace with human scientific capabilities. Despite the technological advances, we are still thinking in terms of might is right. If you're strong, then you take everything. If you are weak, you lose everything," Mahathir said.

"That is the kind of thinking that would be compatible with a very uncivilized world," he added. "We can build atomic bombs which can destroy millions and millions of people, but we have not got the culture to control our impulses, our desires, our emotions."

"And as the capacity increases, we are going to live in a more and more dangerous world," he lamented.

At the outset of the symposium titled "Islam: Fostering Peace and Dialogue in an Interdependent World," Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi made opening remarks, saying the different cultures in the world should make multifaceted efforts to understand one another.

"It may take time for people with different historical and cultural backgrounds to attain mutual understanding, but I believe we can realize international peace by continuing long-term efforts to promote understanding among people in various fields through various methods," Kawaguchi said. (Kyodo News)

[Thinkerman]

Yep it is a sad reflection on all so-called leaders of the Arabian Gulf states and the majority of the rest elswhere, that everyone else but the camels have been quick to denounce american calls to war whilst they remain dithering and Impotent. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD is, as a friend pointed out to me a muslim and a Real MAN. unfortunately the same cant be said of the Arab leaders who are anythin but.