Speaking at a November 24 rally in Damascus, white supremacist and former US State Representative from Louisiana David Duke called the US a land "occupied" by Zionists. "The Zionists occupy most of the American media and now control much of American government. It is not just the West Bank of Palestine, it is not just the Golan Heights that are occupied by the Zionists, but Washington DC, and New York, and London, and many other capitals in the world," the former KKK member said. During the rally in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Duke also blamed the Iraq war on Zionists. "It is only the Zionists who want war rather than peace," he said. His remarks were transcribed by The Middle East Media Research Institute, which also transcribed and translated the following November 21 interview Duke gave to Syrian TV. Interviewer: "How do you read the ongoing US-led escalation against Syria within the context of re-mapping the Middle East?" David Duke: "Well, you must understand that the chief architects of the war were Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearl, Daniel Feith, Mr. Wurmser, Elliot Abrams, in the United States. They were the architects of this war... I believe that this is part of the ongoing Zionist effort, in their control of American foreign policy, to dominate the entire Middle East, and I believe, dominate the world." Interviewer: "Dr. Duke, what impact has the worsening situation of the occupying forces in Iraq, and the daily shipment of body-bags of US and allied soldiers to the USA and elsewhere, had on Bush's ability to plunge into another quagmire?" Duke: "This war is a disaster for the United States, and I think that this has to put pause in some of the Zionist neo-cons about going into a new war. But the one wild card is that these neo-cons are crazy. They are insane people. They are Jewish fanatics, extremists, they are not normal people... The people who are pushing Jewish supremacism, Zionism - they are absolute evil and they are crazy. All they know is more power, and so there is a real danger, I should say, for Syria, and a danger for Iran at this point." Interviewer: "How badly, can you tell our viewers, has the policy making process been hijacked by those neo-cons?" Duke: "It's more shocking for me than it should be for you, because our sons and daughters are being killed in Iraq, are being wounded, innocent Iraqis have died, America is being hurt, and yet we have this policy which is only for Israel. This war is completely about Israel, and I would like to suggest to people in the Middle East... sometimes I believe that the Zionists run a mystification on us. I find, with some of the leftists around the world who say this is a war for oil or this is an American imperialist war - no, this is a case of the Zionists using America to fight their war with our blood and our money." Interviewer: "On last week's talk show, a senior Anglican Syro-Lebanese clergyman cited on this show that there is a biblical background to what the world in general, and the Middle East in particular, is witnessing nowadays. What is your input on that? He was talking about the Old Testament and the process through which Jesus Christ was tried by the Jews and the way now they are treating [figures] like the Syrian leaders." Duke: "As you know from reading my book, the evidence is overwhelming: Judaism at its core - not all Jews, but Judaism at its core - is a racist religion, a supremacist religion, and non-Jews are considered not even of human caliber. It's not all of the Jews, but it is certainly something that is strong in it." (MEMRI)

David Duke: US 'occupied by Zionists'

In Syria, white supremacist says "it is only the Zionists who want war."