Editor:

Attempting to find a shred of constructive advice or worthwhile reasoning in the recent anti-Semitic rant of Malaysia’s prime minister is nearly as futile as inviting Osama bin Laden for a tour of Ground Zero. What Taha A. Gaya failed to comprehend in his Nov. 3 letter to the editor is that no matter what optimistic spin one puts on the paranoid, ultra-reactionary tirade of this notorious Jew-hater, the facts still remain the same: Mahathir Mohamad has removed the taboo on organizational anti-Semitism and has succeeded in perpetuating one of the greatest hateful conspiracy theories of all time ‹ the myth of Jewish control of the world.

The most alarming aspect of Gaya’s letter is the fact that the myth of Jews “”ruling the world by proxy”” is never denied, but rather acknowledged as a lesson in consolidating international power of Muslim leaders and dictators around the world. Unfortunately, there is no lesson to be learned from such a myth, nor does it serve anyone’s purpose to perpetuate it. This myth originated in Eastern Europe during the early 20th century, where it was used to scapegoat Jews for dire political situations, and propagate anti-Semitism in the ill-famed hoax publication entitled “”The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.”” This forgery, and the slurs therein, was later quoted by noted anti-Semites including Henry Ford (author of “”The International Jew: the World’s Foremost Problem””), Adolf Hitler, and now, more candidly, Mahathir Mohamad.

It doesn’t take a genius, and apparently not a UCSD alumnus, to figure out that any public figure who directly alludes to such flagrantly racist propaganda isn’t trying to offer creative advice to the leaders of such anti-Semitic free-for-all states such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria, but is spewing age-old blame to the open ears of his fellow bigots in the hopes of doing something to break the illusionary Jewish control over their day-to-day affairs. Fortunately, when this “”something”” rolls around, I can’t imagine it being more inventive than the ignorant bigots who spread the hate, those that misinterpret it and the editors that allow such nonsense to be published.

‹ Andrew Breskin

President, Union of Jewish Students