Mahathir says remarks on French attacks taken out of context

October 31, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad stood by his widely condemned comments on attacks by Muslim extremists in France, saying Friday that they were taken out of context and criticizing Twitter and Facebook for removing his posts.

Mahathir, 95, sparked widespread outrage when he wrote on his blog Thursday that “Muslims have a right to be angry and kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past.”

Twitter removed a tweet from Mahathir containing the remark, which it said glorified violence, and France’s digital minister demanded the company also ban Mahathir from its platform.

“I am indeed disgusted with attempts to misrepresent and take out of context what I wrote on my blog,” Mahathir said in a statement.

He said critics failed to read his posting in full, especially the next sentence which read: “But by and large Muslims have not applied the ‘eye for an eye’ law. Muslims don’t. The French shouldn’t. Instead the French should teach their people to respect other people’s feelings.”

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