PUTRAJAYA - The world community should boycott the US currency and American-made products to pressure the United States to stop supporting Israel's attacks on Palestine, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said while governments might be "scared stiff" to support the move, the people could play their part to "save Palestine".

"The people have the capacity to act. For instance, they don't have to drink Coca Cola and the government can't force them to drink it.

"If we need to buy weapons, we can always buy them from Russia instead of the US.

"The boycott will have to be a universal effort. If confined to Malaysia alone, it is not going to be effective but Malaysians must also play their part.

"We must not allow ourselves to be cowed. Even if we do little things, I think we can achieve quite a lot," he told a press conference on the developments in the Middle East.

Dr Mahathir, who is chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War, acknowledged that there would be a price to pay if countries stop trading with the world's major trading nation.

"If we want to do something good, then there will be a price to pay. I think if you whittle down involvement with the US, slowly we will get used to it," he said.

Dr Mahathir noted that the best and quickest solution to the Palestine issue was for the US to stop supporting Israel's atrocities. Britain should also be blamed for their "supportive role," he said.

He said Malaysia's effort to convene a special United Nations general assembly should be supported, adding that it should seek a resolution to call for Israel's pullout of Gaza.

"There are opinions that the fight between the Israelis and Palestinians is about religion.

"The crisis is not a religious struggle between Muslims and Jews. It is a fight about territorial issue," he said. -- The Star/Asia News Network