A STUDENT debating society was blasted last night after a guest made an anti-Semitic “gag”, sparking roars of laughter from the audience.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad, 93, told the Cambridge Union that his Jewish friends “are not like the other Jews, that’s why they are my friends”.

The university’s debating society had already come under fire for extending an invite to Dr Mohamad, who says he is glad to be labelled an anti-Semite.

Footage of Sunday’s event emerged online yesterday and immediately sparked fury and calls for an urgent investigation.

Brexit Party MEP Lance Forman, a former president of the union, said he was stunned that the audience laughed.

He said: “Imagine if he had changed the word Jew to black — there would be uproar.

“They wouldn’t have laughed, they would have walked out.

“We need to know why he was given a platform in the first place, why his comments were not challenged and who laughed.”

Critics said Dr Mohamad was known for his anti-Semitic views.

But Cambridge Union, registered as a charity, stood by its invitation on the grounds of free speech. It blamed the laughing on Dr Mohamad’s entourage.

Last night the Campaign Against Antisemitism said it had lodged a complaint with the Charity Commission.

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