History Does Not Forget Israel’s Brutality

Former Malaysian Prime Minister, criticizing Israel’s crimes in Gaza and America’s isolationist policies, stressed the need to rethink the global order.

News ID: 86726

Date: 29 September 2025 - 09:21

TEHRAN (Defapress) - In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian Prime Minister, discussed global issues on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The veteran politician, with a brilliant record in defending the rights of the nations of the global South, emphasized that the Zionist regime’s brutality against the Palestinian people in Gaza will be engraved as a black mark in the history of humanity.

Mahathir, who has always been a vociferous voice against Western imperialism, emphasized that the killing of nearly 66,000 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children, will not only not be forgotten, but will remain in the minds of future generations and perhaps even for centuries to come. “How can we forget the killing of pregnant mothers, newborn babies, young people, boys and girls, men and women, the wounded and the poor in Gaza?” he asked in a tone of regret.

Mahathir compared the Zionist regime’s genocide in Gaza to the killing of Muslims in Bosnia in the early 1990s and the massacre of Jews by Nazi Germany in World War II, and exclaimed with surprise: “I thought that those who suffered such suffering would never want to impose it on others.”

He added: Genocide victims should not necessarily inflict the same deadly fate on others, but the Israelis “have learned nothing from their experiences” and now want to impose the same fate on the Arabs. This historical contradiction is one of the main axes of Mahathir’s criticism of the Zionist regime’s performance.

At the height of his power in the 1980s and 1990s, Mahathir was known as a symbol of the voice of the global South. He has earned a special place in the international arena with his outspoken criticism of Western imperialism and the contemporary exploitation of developing countries by flows of financial capital. His staunch and lifelong support for the Palestinian cause, which has sometimes been labeled "anti-semitism", has made him a fierce critic of the West, especially the United States.

In the context of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mahathir considers the implementation of a two-state solution to be the only logical solution. This proposal, which has recently been strengthened by the recognition of the Palestinian state by countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, and the UK, still seems far-fetched. Mahathir said realistically: "The possibility of implementing the two-state idea will take a long time, and I do not think that this plan will be implemented while I am alive."

In another part of the interview, Mahathir compared the economic situation of China with that of the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump. He described Trump’s tariff war as “very damaging” and said his plans to move manufacturing back to the US would increase costs and further strengthen China. “Trump wants companies to move their factories to the US,” Mahathir acknowledged. “Wages are very high there, and the work ethic of Americans is different from Chinese workers, who work long hours.”

“Any product that is produced in the US in the future will be more expensive, and the US will not be able to compete with the rest of the world. Moreover, Trump does not have enough time to implement this economic vision because it takes at least 3 to 8 years to move manufacturing facilities, and Trump will not be president after 3 years.” The analysis is based on Mahathir’s deep understanding of the dynamics of the global economy and warns that isolationist policies could weaken the US position.

Thus, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad considered the Gaza tragedies a clear example of serious human rights violations and emphasized the depth of the disaster by comparing it with the darkest historical events, including the genocide in Bosnia and the Holocaust. He, who has a long history of criticizing the policies of Western powers, considered the behavior of the Zionist regime to be contradictory to the historical experience of the victims of genocide and stated that the only sustainable solution to the Palestinian issue is the realization of the two-state plan. In the field of global economy, Mahathir also criticized the isolationist policies of the United States and warned that such an approach could strengthen competitors such as China and weaken the international position of the United States.