Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in an interview with the BBC, October 2, 2018. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

A November 15 Guardian article about warnings by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad that the Australian government’s decision to consider moving its embassy to Jerusalem could lead to more terrorism began thusly:

Scott Morrison’s contentious Israel policy shift has encountered more diplomatic headwinds, with Malaysia’s prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, suggesting relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would add to the cause of terrorism.

The Malaysian prime minister, known for his outspoken public interventions, raised concern in a meeting with Morrison at the Asean summit in Singapore about the prospect of Australia recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

However, in over 800 words of text, The Guardian‘s Australian political editor Katharine Murphy didn’t inform readers what else, beyond his “outspoken interventions,” Mohamad is “known for.” This is something that would provide important context to his objections to Australia’s decision.

The 92-year-old Malaysian leader has a long and well-documented history of antisemitism.

Last month, in a BBC News interview, Mohamad said that Jews are “hook-nosed,” repeating a variation of a charge he made in a 1970 book: “The Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively.” He also claimed in the BBC interview that the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust was not six million.

In an interview with the Associated Press in August, Mohamad said, “Anti-Semitic is a term that is invented to prevent people from criticizing the Jews for doing wrong things.” He’s also accused Israel of treating the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews, and claimed that all of the Middle East’s problems began with Israel’s creation.

In a 2003 speech at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit during his previous stint as prime minister, he called for “1.3 billion Muslims” to unite to launch a “counterattack” against the “few million Jews” who had defeated them, and suggested that Jews sought to “wipe out” all Muslims. He also used the Holocaust as an example that Muslims could emulate. He then told the gathering that the “Jews rule the world by proxy.”

So, in addition to being known for his “outspokenness,” Mohamad is also quite famous for spewing hate towards Israel and engaging in Protocols of the Elders of Zion-style conspiratorial antisemitism, a fact that places his objection to countries recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in the proper perspective.

The writer covers the British media for CAMERA, the 65,000-member, Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.