It was the typical Dr Mahathir Mohamad--one to behold and one to bemoan--who took the stand in Malaysia's sparkling new adminstrative centre of Putrajaya last week to address a gathering of Muslim leaders unseen of in the last three years.

When the standing ovation by the 57 leaders who make up the Organisation of Islamic Conference died down, the focus on Mahathir's expansive and provocative speech of 4,223 words and 59 paragraphs focussed on 373 words.

Those words triggered a western chorus of indignation and charges of anti-Semitism against the outspoken, outgoing and often outrageous Malaysian leader.

What was not reported on was the bulk of the speech that urged Arabs to stop fighting a losing battle and pursue peace.

His lamentations that Muslims are divided on denominational lines; they want to recreate a city-state - which is not possible; they are angry but their anger is impotent; they are devoid of patience; they are only concerned about the hereafter rather than the here and now; that they need to close ranks, acquire education, streamline their economies, learn to take joint stands and most importantly, that they must denounce violence got no ink.

Parts of the speech which acknowledged Jewish grit and savvy and Mahathir's plea to Muslims to emulate the ways of Jewish people by pulling together, working hard and planning for the future never got on CNN or BBC or CBC.

The made-up dolts on the TV stations who pass off as political pundits could not differentiate between "anti-Semitism" and Mahathir's criticism of the Israel state.

Mahathir's speech was described by many in the media and politics as predictable.

What was equally predictable was the way it was covered and reacted to.

While we, like most Canadians, have no tolerance for anti-Semitism, nor for any form of hate, Mahathir's detractors would have been better served if they had read his speech in its entirety.

But, many, instead just responded to isolated "statements", which resulted in a condemnation of views taken out of context, by people out of sync with what was going on in Putrajaya.

There are many like Mahathir, Jews included, who have taken exception to the policies of the Israeli state.

Those who criticised Dr Mahathir's speech by describing it as "anti-Semitic" are just playing into the hands of the people who want to dampen criticism of Israel's right-wing government.

This, if left unchecked, will lead to accusations of anti-Semitism becoming so common that many will be unable to distinguish between dissent and hate.

Being critical of Israeli politics does not make one anti-Semitic.