The notorious Louisiana-based white supremacist leader, David Duke, has visited Syria last week, where he delivered an anti-Semitic speech attacking 'Zionists occupying New York' and the State of Israel. The speech was carried by Syrian state television.

Television footage of the rally has been made available by the Arabic translation service, MEMRI.

To see video of speech, please follow this link.

Duke, who was once a “grand wizard” of the Klu Klux Klan, addressed a cheering crowd waving Syrian flags, saying: “I come from the peace-loving people in America to the peace-loving people of Syria.”

“It is only in America and around the world, it is only the Zionists who want war rather than peace,” Duke said in a speech which seemed to illustrate the convergence of white supremacist ideology with the rhetoric of radical voices in the Arab world.

“It hurts my heart to tell you that part of my country is occupied by Zionists, just as part of your country, the Golan Heights, is occupied by Zionists. The Zionists occupy most of the American media and now control much of American government,” he added.

'A message from many Americans'

Duke said that “it is not just the West Bank of Palestine, it is not just the Golan Heights that are occupied by the Zionists, but Washington D.C., and New York, and London, and many other capitals in the world.”

“I bring you a message from many Americans; from many people in Britain, and around the Western world. We say in unison: No war for Israel,” he concluded.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, in an article entitled “The black plague,” Duke once wrote in an editorial: "(A) black...gets a job with a white-owned company. He is the only black at the firm. He works hard, but he's fighting a losing battle against his genes."

Duke’s latest website entry contains a pro-Holocaust denial message in which he laments the “Zionists who use the Holocaust as the sword and shield of the racial-supremacist state of Israel.”

His website carries a quote by Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash, in which Habash welcomed "Duke’s wonderful visit."

Habash is reported to have added: "He has given us a new and very positive view of the average American."