Dr M Hits Back At Being Named On Extremist List

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Dr Mahathir Mohamad says US president Donald Trump should be labelled an extremist for the attack on the Congress last week.PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was included in a list of the world’s top 20 most dangerous extremists, said today he was being vilified for his thoughts while others got away with acts of terrorism and violence.
Dr Mahathir was responding to his inclusion last week on a list put up by the US-based Counter Extremism Project website which said he supports extremist violence against the West and has criticised lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities and Jewish people.
“The website regurgitates half of what I wrote and twisted it so as to imply that I advocate terrorism. I specifically stressed that Muslims are not revengeful,” he said in an article at his blog today.
“So, one can be an extremist for criticising the West, saying things they do not like to hear, even if it’s the truth. You don’t have to do anything. It seems that I am vilified for my thoughts while others get away with acts of terror and violence resulting in death and destruction of the weak and the oppressed.”
The list includes leaders or members of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic State (ISIS), Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, as well as the head of a Nazi movement, a white supremacist movement, and an anti-Muslim group in Myanmar.
Mahathir said outgoing US president Donald Trump should be labelled an extremist for the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters, which has been largely attributed to his incitement.
He Facebook banned Trump until the end of his presidency for use of the platform to “incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government” but Trump was not included on the list. (The list was published before the attack took place.)
Mahathir said former US president George Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair were responsible for the “complete destruction” of Iraq through the invasion of the country based on falsified claims of having weapons of mass destruction.
“Would Bush and Blair be held as extremists considering that all those lives lost were due to their lies about Iraq,” he asked. “Their shock and awe assault which they claim would solve the problem of Iraq’s dictatorship in three months is now in its 18th year. The destruction is still going on.”
Mahathir also pointed out that according to the Human Rights Watch, Israeli security forces killed 189 Palestinian demonstrators, including 31 children and three medical workers, and wounded more than 5,800 with live fire between March 30 and November 19, 2018.
“Since the creation of Israel thousands of Palestinian lives have been lost due to Israeli action,” he said. “Yet not a single Israeli is listed among the terrorist-extremists by this website.” - FMT

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