Mahathir Mohamad
The educational institution was under fire for inviting him to speak, with World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder saying the school “should be ashamed of themselves.”
The university’s Union of Jewish Students said “it is chilling to see a crowd of students laugh off flagrantly anti-Semitic comments. Freedom of speech is not a joke when it incites hatred against one people.”
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also told Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that Austria is a “friend and partner of Israel.”
The Jewish state slammed Malaysia’s ban on Israeli participation in the Muslim-majority nation’s hosting of international sporting events, citing the choice was motivated by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s “rabid anti-Semitism.”
The event, to be held in the Malaysian city of Kuching, is crucial as the outcome will affect the competition of the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, which will host more than 600 swimmers from 70 nations.