'Israel is a terrorist state'

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed held no punches as he slammed Israel, calling it a "terrorist state".

"It is a terrorist state because it terrifies all the countries around it. Nobody is safe," he said in a speech during the 'Malaysians Condemn the Unjust War in Gaza' forum at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) this morning.

He said Israel aims to kill as many Palestinians as possible not just by bombing them but also by starving and preventing them from getting aid.

Dr Mahathir said although Malaysia is in no capacity to send its military force to back Palestine, but it is able to help the people of Gaza by supplying them with medical aid, food supplies and construction material.

"We can do that (send troops) in Bosnia because at least the Serbs were not supplied with arms by Nato," he said.

However, Dr Mahathir said the same cannot be done towards Israel because if Israel was attacked, the United States of America and the United Kingdom will back them up.

"Not only is Israel a lawless nation but its supporters who preach to us the rule of law, human rights, about the sanctity of life... these people are the same people who are breaching the rule of law, the freedom of people and the sanctity of life," he said.

Dr Mahathir also took a swipe at US, adding it was guilty of genocide on the native Americans and criticised recently re-elected US President Barack Obama's stand in defending Israel.

"Obama said the attack is to secure the state of Israel... what bout the security of (the people of) Gaza?

"Shouldn't they be secured? They are human beings," questioned Dr Mahathir who also placed the blame on those who created Israel.

The former premier also presented a cheque worth RM100,000 on behalf of the Perdana Global Peace Foundation to the Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) this morning.

The cheque was received by MAP's representative Professor Paola Manduca.

Dr Mahathir, who is also the chairman for Perdana Global Peace Foundation, said the event was held to call for the stop of the violence and to launch an emergency fund for Gaza.

The ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict has so far witnessed more than 100 casualties including children and the elderly to date.