| Abstract: | Over the last decade there has been much academic and journalistic probing of the Malaysian prime minister's expressed attitudes towards Jews. That attention was renewed in 1997 following Dr Mahathir's recent denunciations of international currency speculation, as personified by George Soros. Yet at the same time that Dr Mahathir and his followers express their adverse views concerning Jews, there has also been evident in contemporary Malaysia, especially among the Malay political elite surrounding Dr Mahathir, a paradoxical fascination with the idea of 'diaspora', a desire to discover and even invent or create a 'Malay diaspora'. Understanding this peculiar 'diaspora-envy' may provide some insight into the modern Malay aspirations towards cosmopolitanism and 'global reach' that Dr Mahathir, with widespread domestic support, projects internationally. This 'diaspora-envy' seems the obverse side of Dr Mahathir's more direct and controversial views concerning Jews, and may throw some fresh light on them. Instead of providing evidence of classical political antisemitism, the views of Dr Mahathir and other leading Malaysians about Jews are the by-product of their views about other issues, especially the residue of a generally traditional religious education. |
