Shocked by the global condemnation of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's crude and inflaming remarks on Jews, his apologists have rushed to his defence.

Although it could be argued that Mahathir has called on Muslims not to resort to violence and commit "suicide attacks" in their political struggles, the unmistakable stereotyping of Jews as the enemy of Muslims is dangerous.

The stereotyping of all Jews as an all-powerful and shrewd bloc that "controls the world by proxy" not only arouses envy and resentment among those who believe that they are living now under the Jewish 'yoke', but also accuses the governments in the West, like the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Australia and other of being puppets of the Jews.

This is, to say the least, a conspiracy theory par excellence. It also suggests that those who believe in such statements are suffering from pathological delusion of persecution, which is a serious psychological disorder. In the study of abnormal psychology, delusion of persecution usually co-exist with delusion of grandeur.

This is not the first time Mahathir has made controversial remarks on Jews and other peoples, with the purpose of making bogeys and inventing external threats as well as internal traitors.

But does Mahathir deserve the right to free speech? If he really treasures freedom of speech, why does his government enforce the Universities and University Colleges Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act and Sedition Act to deny ordinary Malaysians the same freedom?

The issues of " honesty and bravery " do not arise here. The real issue is political responsibility or the lack of it.

To put it bluntly: Mahathir is wrong and he deserves to be condemned not only by the Western media and governments, but also by Malaysians. He has indeed brought shame to the country.