By Zaharah Othman in London

THE idea of making war a crime should be pursued as much as possible.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in saying this, added that in this way, people, in time, would regard killing a million people as murder, even if the actual murder was not carried out by the person concerned but people in charge of the apparatus of war.

Dr Mahathir, who is founder of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War (KLFCW), was speaking at the closing of the one-day Forum on Palestine yesterday.

The forum was aimed at galvanising world opinion to condemn the criminal invasion of Gaza by Israel and move the international community to provide humanitarian relief and assistance to the people of Gaza.

The forum was opened by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

The speakers included veteran anti-war campaigner Tony Benn; Rabbi Aharon Cohen, a prominent leader of Neturei Karta, an international body of Jews united against Zionism: journalist and activist Lauren Booth, Cynthia McKinney, 2008 United States presidential candidate for the Green Party, and Gerald Kaufman, a former British member of parliament.

On the KLFCW, Dr Mahathir said as a minority, they could make a significant contribution.

"We, as a people who reject war and want to make war a crime, may not be able to talk to the majority, but we can be the people who actually make the difference.

"We can be the people who say that if you don't reject war, then we are going to make sure that you lose the election.

"Then, I think, although we may not be many, we could still achieve our objective," Dr Mahathir added.

The forum, which was attended by more than 200 people, was held at the Marriot Hotel in Malaysia.

-The New Straits Times