At Columbia, Malaysian leader says Holocaust victim numbers debatable
JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
Times of Israel
Wed Sep 25 2019
NEW YORK (JTA) — The prime minister of Malaysia defended his past anti-Semitic statements and questioned the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust in a speech at Columbia University Wednesday.
“I am exercising my right to free speech. Why is it that I can’t say something against the Jews, when a lot of people say nasty things about me, about Malaysia, and I didn’t protest, I didn’t demonstrate?” Mahathir Mohamad said in response to a question from an audience member.
Mohamad, who was speaking at the college’s World Leaders Forum, has called Jews “hook-nosed,” said they “rule the world by proxy” and questioned the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. He also has said that he is “glad to be labeled anti-Semitic.”...
