The prime minister underscored that it is not true that all Europeans or Americans are against Islam or Muslims or the Palestinians, as many are in fact sympathetic.

We need to get the sympathy and the support of the world if we’re going to stop the oppression of Muslims by the israel.

"But if we commit acts of terror, we’re pushing them towards supporting israel, because then israel can claim that we’re unable to behave normally and be caring about the lives of innocent people," he said.

Dr Mahathir said this when addressing the International Colloquium Series on Islamic Understanding on the theme of ‘Demystifying Islamophobia: Towards a Deeper Understanding of Islam’ organized by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) here today.

Dr Mahathir stressed that Muslims must realize that acts of terror committed elsewhere in the world purportedly in support of Palestine, will not likely result in success as Palestinians, in fact, have been losing more land to the Jews.

Spelling out the recipe of what should be done in this case, he said: "The better thing to do is to gain the sympathy of the world by showing that the israelis are the perpetrators of the injustice against the Muslims."

We need to have more people to support the struggles of the Muslims, and acts of terror do not help in winning support. In any case, acts of terror do not give any results at all.

"What gives results is a good strategy, using diplomacy and other means to win over the support of many people," the prime minister said, adding that Muslims must refrain from acts of terror as these would not endear them to the world.

Dr Mahathir also drove home the point that if justice is given to the Palestinians with their claims respected and supported, "I’m quite sure that there will be fewer acts of terror."

Dr Mahathir said that israelis themselves have committed acts of terror against Muslims but these were not reported.

"But there’s no such thing as Israelophobia. There should be, but there is not," he said.

The prime minister noted that some Muslims resorted to what are considered acts of terror out of frustration and anger over developments in Palestine at the hands of the zionists gangs.

"If we don’t recognize the reasons for their acts which we call acts of terror, then these will continue and will become worse as more and more people become angry and frustrated.

"… and of course this will result in Islam and Muslims being condemned, and (accused of) being the cause of terror and the fear felt by the world," he said.

ILKHA