Malaysia is facing one of her stiffest challenges in her 52 year history. There seem to be no end in the racism and religious bigotry in this country. When talking about racism and religious bigotry, Malaysians have no hesitation to point their fingers at the West especially the United States, which strangely enough have elected an African American as her President.
Back home in Malaysia, we have people saying that the Prime Minister or the Menteri Besar has to be of a certain race and religion. The Scribe does not want to dabble into the issue of Vernacular, National or religious schools. However, there are folks out there who have been to Vernacular (Chinese and Tamil medium schools) as well as Islamic religious schools who would vouch with God Almighty as their witness that they were bombarded with religious and racist hatred against those who were not of the same race or religion with them by their teachers.
Things get even worse when Muslim students of full Government residential schools are brainwashed to hate all thing western, Jewish and worst of all are told to hate and distrust their brother and sister Malaysians who are non Muslims and non Malays. The Scribe has credible information that Government schools are using their Ustaz's and Ustazah's to tell our kids that the Holy Quran says that Allah swt made Jews as pigs and monkeys. So it is no surprise that young Muslims in this country are radicalized right under our noses with our tax money.
The whole Gaza episode is nothing but an exercise by the Evil BN/Umno regime to shore up support for itself at a time when its own future is bleak. Some readers have sent emails to The Scribe complaining that it makes them sick to see DPM Najib Razak's wife, Rosmah (adorned with pearls around her neck) pathetically appealing for funds for the Palestinians. Another email complained that Maybank has unethically put on the screens of ATM's the account number of the Gaza Fund as soon as a customer keys in their account details.
Let's stop being hypocrites and start looking at those suffering right here in Malaysia. What about the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar. Why no action against the genocide currently underway in Myanmar against the Rohingya'? What about the genocide going on in Sri Lanka against the Tamils? Where is Dr. Jemilah and Mercy Malaysia? Yeah, people would say that Mercy Malaysia were there in the aftermath of Typhoon Nargis but so were other international aid agencies. Where is Mercy Malaysia and the international aid agencies such as UNHWR today? Why is Umno Youth, PEWARIS and PPIM keeping mum? Why no demonstration in front of the Myanmar Embassy in KL?
The truth of the matter is Malaysia and her leaders have had and continue to have secret dealings with Israel. WHAT A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES!!! For this reason, The Scribe has decided to repost the Article 'BN/UMNO'S SECRET DEALINGS WITH ISRAEL'.
Malaysia: Anti-Semitism without Jews malaysiakini- quoted Ahmad Ismail as saying, "I urge the Chinese not to become like the Jewish in America, where it is not enough that they control the economy, but they also want to dominate politics,".
Penang Umno leader Ahmad Ismail, the man at the centre of the ‘racial slur' controversy, warned Chinese Malaysians not to mimic American Jews who not only seek to control the country's economy but also its political power. This anti-Semitic statement came out from the vile mouth of Ahmad Ismail even though there are no Jews in Malaysia. Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, an American Jewish advocacy group, called the remarks by Ahmad Ismail an example of "classic anti-Semitism.
It has become a convenient tool of rulers and politicians in the Muslim world to get their masses all fired up by uttering the 'J' (Jewish) and 'I' (Israel) word as a convenient means to cover up their own misdeeds such as robbing their own people. The only difference here in Malaysia is that Umno politicians adds the 'C' (Chinese) to spice things up for their amok ready followers. It is kind of strange that even when we don't have Jews in Malaysia, we still hear anti-Semitic statements coming out from especially Umno politicians. However, this Scribe feels that the Father of Anti-Semitism in Malaysia must be Mahathir Mohamed. he is after all, Ahmad Ismail's Sifu.
The funny thing here is that despite all the anti-Semitic remarks coming out from the leaders of the BN/Umno regime, this very regime has secretly been dealing with the Israelis as this following Article by the JERUSALEM CENTER FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS would reveal.
An Anti-Semitic Prime Minister
Since its establishment (initially as Malaya) in 1957, Malaysia has rejected formal diplomatic relations with Israel and has kept contacts on a low flame at best. Reasons include Malaysia's desire to cultivate ties with the Arab countries and the power of domestic Islamic trends. Malaysian animus toward Israel grew during the 1960s, although a certain level of commercial activity between the two countries was tolerated. In 1981 the openly anti-Semitic Mahathir bin Muhamad was elected Malaysia's prime minister, and he continued his public condemnations of Israel and Jews while strengthening Malaysia's support for the PLO. Although during the Oslo era he somewhat moderated his statements, he ended his tenure in October 2003 with an anti-Semitic diatribe at a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Since then Malaysia has remained cool toward Israel, claiming that relations depend on a solution of the Palestinian problem.
During Mahathir's years as prime minister he made extreme anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic statements, some of which achieved wide resonance. Mahathir nurtured anti-Semitism in a Malaysia that was without Jews. On 27 January 1981, in a speech in Saudi Arabia, he urged regaining the Palestinian lands by force since Israel was not invincible. He also, as will be discussed, vilified Israel at major venues.
In June 1983, Mahathir issued a statement attacking Israel for its incursion into Lebanon and calling it "the most immoral country in the world." In October 1983, at the OIC's Sixth Conference on Palestine held in New York, Malaysia expressed concern about Israel's renewed activities in Africa and called for their immediate halt. Malaysia opposed establishing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and supported the resolution at the Jerusalem Conference of the OIC (New York, April 1984) to sever ties with any country that moved its ambassador to Jerusalem.Malaysia supported the PLO more strongly than did any other Southeast Asian country. In 1969, Malaysia was the first Asian country to permit Fatah to open an office in its capital, which in 1974 became a PLO office. In August 1982, under Mahathir, this office was given full diplomatic recognition. Malaysia's foreign minister claimed that Israel should recognize the PLO before demanding that it recognize Israel. In May 1983, Malaysia hosted a conference on the Palestine question with UN funding and expressed anti-Israeli propaganda in its media. Yasser Arafat, paying an official visit to Malaysia in July 1984, was received by the king and spoke to a large audience.
In August 1984, a visit to Kuala Lumpur by the New York Philharmonic was canceled because of the Malaysian information minister's demand that a work by the Swiss Jewish composer Ernst Bloch be removed from the program. The minister's statement on the matter included anti-Semitic expressions.
From 1983 onward, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published and disseminated in Malaysia. On 12 August 1983, Mahathir asserted in a speech to the Malaysian Press Club that Jews and Zionists controlled the international media. He repeated this charge four days later and added that the journalists working for foreign newspapers under Jewish control were trying to destabilize Malaysia through distorted reports. He called the Wall Street Journal a Jewish tool.In a speech in September 1986 at the summit of the Nonaligned Nations in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Mahathir complained that the Jews' exile two thousand years ago and their persecution under the Nazis had not taught them anything. On the contrary, these persecutions had turned them into the very monsters they vilified in their own propaganda; they had become the gifted students of Goebbels.
In another speech to the Malaysian parliament on 10 October 1986, Mahathir referred to attempts by Zionists to use Malaysian individuals and groups to damage the country's economy. He also blamed the "Zionist press" in Western countries for the low level of American investment in Malaysia. He often attacked the New York Times and the Asian Wall Street Journal as Zionist publications.
Israeli president Chaim Herzog's visit to Singapore in November 1986 evoked harsh Malaysian reactions including bitter condemnations of Israel and Zionism. There were calls to cut off Singapore's water supply and burn its flag.
Mahathir and Malaysian diplomatic representatives made constant belligerent speeches about Israel, often condemning it for causing suffering to the Palestinians. In 1992, Malaysia denied entry to a delegate from Israel's El Al airlines for the International Flight Conference in Kuala Lumpur. In December that year, it denied entry to an Israeli football player on the Liverpool team, and the team canceled its visit to Malaysia.
In March 1994, Mahathir prohibited the screening of Steven Spielberg's movie Schindler's List on the ground that it was an anti-German propaganda film aimed at winning support for Jews and contained too much violence. When this evoked protests in the United States and Australia, the Malaysia cabinet canceled the prohibition against the film but required that seven scenes with violence or sex be cut. Spielberg, however, insisted that the film be shown in its entirety or not at all. In the end, it was decided to remove all his films from Malaysia.
Early in 1992, Israel began normalizing its relations with China, India, and other Asian countries. This drew its Foreign Ministry's attention to the Muslim countries in Asia. The view regarding Malaysia was that Mahathir was an anti-Semite and there was no chance of changing his country's hostile policy so long as he was prime minister.
The Oslo Era
The signing of the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on 20 August 1993 brought Mahathir to lower his tone. Malaysia's deputy foreign minister announced in parliament that Malaysia welcomed the Israeli-PLO agreement. Mahathir, on a different occasion, said Malaysia would consider diplomatic relations with Israel, but first Israel had to do more to bring peace to the Middle East. He expressed hope that Israelis and Palestinians could now live in peace and that all Palestinian land would be returned, and pointed out that the future status of Jerusalem remained unresolved.
The deputy minister of international trade and industry said Malaysia aimed to penetrate the Israeli market as soon as the two countries set up diplomatic relations; meanwhile, the trade and economic sanctions against Israel would continue. The foreign minister said Malaysia would pledge $5 million to help the Palestinians govern Gaza and Jericho, would help them develop the infrastructure in areas evacuated by Israel, and would provide technical assistance in the administrative and police domains. The PLO ambassador to Malaysia claimed it was the first country to offer assistance to the PLO after the signing of the agreement with Israel.On 28 December 1993, however, Mahathir announced at a press conference that Malaysia was not yet ready to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. By then several Gulf states had done so, but Malaysia's stance was that Israel still had much to do. For example, Israel had not announced its acceptance of a Palestinian state or that it would cease "terrorist activities" even as the Palestinians were asked to end their own terror tactics.
On 14 July 1994, the brother of the king of Malaysia, Tunku Abdallah bin Tunku abd Al-Rahman, paid a private visit to Israel. He was the chairman of a consortium of commercial and investment companies. Among others, Tunku Abdallah met with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. When the visit was made known in Malaysia, Mahathir denied that the government had arranged it or that Tunku Abdallah was on a diplomatic mission. He said he did not know about the trip and believed it was strictly for business.
On returning to Kuala Lumpur on 16 July, Tunku Abdallah said his visit was entirely private and aimed at checking the feasibility of opening commercial relations in tourism and technology, and this was in the framework of his trip to Europe. He claimed Israel had exploited his visit for political advantage since he was the king's brother, and that his meetings with Rabin and Peres were of a social nature only. He apologized to all those who were offended by the visit.
Nevertheless, the justice minister (Syed Hamid Albar) threatened that the police would investigate Tunku Abdallah and confiscate his passport for breaking the law by visiting Israel.While the Malaysia government and media were occupied with Tunku Abdallah's visit, Mahathir announced that Rabin had written to him to suggest establishing diplomatic relations in light of the improved Israeli-PLO ties. Mahathir had replied, he said, that Malaysia opposed such relations until Israel and the PLO resolved all the remaining issues between them. He told the press, moreover, that he was not convinced of Israel's sincerity in its peace talks with the PLO, since "Israel continues to humiliate the Palestinians and has no intention of returning Jerusalem to them." Although Rabin believed this was the right time to advance relations with the Asian Muslim countries, his overture to Mahathir was merely tentative.
Meanwhile, Malaysia had no intention to revoke its trade embargo with Israel. In a visit to Jordan on 9 October 1994, Mahathir explained at a press conference that Malaysia would decide whether to recognize Israel only after it signed peace treaties with all the Arab countries and fulfilled all the Arab demands including with respect to Jerusalem.
At that time there were indications that Malaysia had changed its approach to Israel in some areas relating to economics. During 1994, a small number of Israelis were allowed to enter Malaysia to attend international conferences on various topics. Specifically, in December that year Malaysia granted entry permits to eight Israelis who came to participate in a conference on fertilizers.
On 24 October that year, Malaysia permitted Malaysian Muslims to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem but not to visit other places in Israel. The pilgrims could enter Israel only through Jordan and stay no longer than two weeks. In announcing this, the deputy foreign minister said there was no change in Malaysia's policy toward Israel despite its attempts to make peace with Arab countries and the PLO.
When this was made public, Christian groups in Malaysia asked for a similar arrangement. The foreign minister approved their request on 10 November. Shortly thereafter, the president of Malaysia's travel-agent association met with the commerce and tourism attachés at the Israeli embassy in Singapore to work out details for Malaysian tourism to Jerusalem. During 1-5 January 1995, a delegation of Malaysian travel agents visited Israel. In that year, a Malaysian delegation took part in an economic conference in Casablanca in which Israel also participated, and in a continuation of the conference in Amman, and El Al and the Malaysian national airline signed an air-traffic agreement.
Furthermore, in late May 1995 a Malaysian television crew visited Israel. On 18 June, the program it filmed there was broadcast on Malaysian television. It included an interview with, among others, the then Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert. Israeli songs were heard in the background.
The picture was more complex regarding commercial relations. On 17 September 1994, Malaysian customs authorities impounded a shipment of 24,000 tons of fertilizer on the suspicion that it originated in Israel, from which imports were illegal. However, Malaysia began to suspect that there was a counter boycott on selling Malaysian products by Jewish businessmen in various countries. In mid-January 1996, Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry announced that his ministry was exploring the possibility of gradually instituting commercial relations with Israel. He added, however, that such trade would have no political significance. "It will be like with Taiwan. We do not have diplomatic relations with her but there are numerous commercial relations."
In a visit to New Delhi in January 1996, Israel's then finance minister Avraham Shochat said he looked forward to diplomatic relations with Malaysia and Indonesia in the near future. The director-general of Malaysia's Foreign Ministry responded by saying Malaysia was in no hurry to have diplomatic ties with Israel, repeating what Mahathir had said a few days earlier.An Ongoing
Coolness
Revealing misplaced enthusiasm, the director-general of Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade, Yosi Snir, requested clarification from Malaysia on the issue of permitting economic relations with Israel. Only upon receiving a response, he explained, would his ministry remove Malaysia from the list of countries from which imports were forbidden. In addition, the spokesperson for the Israel embassy in Singapore said Israel looked forward to Malaysia taking steps to normalize commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel.
Apparently, Malaysia did not respond to the Israeli feelers. In mid-February 1996, however, a Malaysian businessman visited Israel to discuss cooperation between Israeli and Malaysian companies. In late March a delegation of Malaysian businessmen came to Israel and held talks with heads of chambers of commerce. Although Malaysia's official boycott of Israeli products still stood, the head of the Malaysian delegation said he had been authorized by the minister of industry and trade. In early May the Israeli Port Authority sponsored an international conference, and a sixteen-member Malaysian delegation attended with government approval.
These developments, along with Malaysia's change of policy in granting entry permits to Israelis, created an expectation that Malaysia was about to open an economic interest office in Tel Aviv.26 In June 1996, the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced in parliament that his ministry was considering sending an official commercial mission to Israel. The Malaysian foreign minister added that future commercial relations with Israel depended on the efforts of the new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, to achieve peace. In October 1996, the Malaysian bank Public Bank Bhd. established direct relations with Israel's Bank Hapoalim to enable commercial firms in both countries to make direct financial transactions. Malaysia's deputy finance minister announced that Israeli businessmen would be permitted to invest in Malaysia.
In light of these developments, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in New York decided to urge Malaysian leaders to speed up establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. Several meetings were held with Malaysian representatives to the United Nations and with Malaysia's deputy prime minister, but these did not lead to any positive outcomes.
In 1997, Malaysia took two small steps in the area of youth and sports. During 3-16 March, an Israeli youth delegation made up of fourteen high school students of both sexes visited Malaysia. It was said that Mahathir himself was behind the initiative. The students visited two schools and met with the education minister and other senior government officials. This visit did not arouse public interest.
Yet when an Israeli cricket team arrived a few days later to take part in an international tournament, demonstrations by Muslims and students erupted in which Israeli flags were burned. To achieve calm, the foreign minister quickly declared in parliament that Malaysia had no intention to establish diplomatic relations with Israel "until Tel Aviv honors its obligations according to the peace treaty it signed with the Palestinians."
Mahathir had made the same point at a press conference in New York late in September 1996. Moreover, in reaction to the violence that had erupted over Israel's opening of a tunnel at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, he accused the new Netanyahu government of trying to retreat from the agreements signed by the Rabin government. Mahathir said the opening of the tunnel was a provocation and an assault on the sanctity of the Al-Aksa Mosque. Speaking at the UN General Assembly at that time, Malaysia's foreign minister said Israel's attempt to make Jerusalem its capital was illegal, and that Malaysia supported the Palestinians' aspirations for self-determination in their own state.
Protesting Mahathir
In July 1997, when Malaysia faced a severe economic crisis, Mahathir was convinced it was caused by the Jewish financier George Soros. It seems Soros's dealing in Malaysian currency harmed the country's economy, and the reports in Malaysian newspapers were full of anti-Semitic innuendos. Mahathir tried to explain this: "We are not anti-Semites. The Arabs are also Semites. Just as people make a connection between Islam, Muslims and terrorism, there are people in this country who are inclined to connect [dealing in foreign currency] with Jews. . . . I think that most Jews are innocent, but the impression is that the Jews have a lot of money. They know how to manipulate money. . . . "
In October 1997 when the crisis worsened, Mahathir continued his anti-Semitic rhetoric. He referred in a speech to the "international Jewish conspiracy" and to his government's fears that the Jews planned to destroy Malaysia's and other Muslim countries' economies.American Jewish organizations reacted. The JCRC sent a letter of protest on Mahathir's comments to Malaysia's UN representatives. Jewish leaders in New York met with Malaysian diplomats and with the Malaysian deputy prime minister and finance minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who was visiting the city. The Malaysians tried to explain that Mahathir was prone to outbursts and did not heed advice from anyone, but was not an anti-Semite. Anwar Ibrahim, however, said Mahathir sincerely believed in the "international Jewish plot." Shortly thereafter Mahathir fired Anwar Ibrahim, who was tried for corruption and sexual offenses and given a long sentence.The Jewish leaders demanded that Malaysia establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. The Malaysian UN ambassador and Anwar Ibrahim explained that Malaysia supported Palestinian rights and censured the Netanyahu government. The time was not right to continue working to improve relations, and Malaysia was not ready for normalization.
Additional Jewish organizations condemned Mahathir as an anti-Semite, as did the U.S. State Department. The World Jewish Congress announced that it would file a complaint with the UN Council on Human Rights in Geneva. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Mahathir for his anti-Semitic remarks.
Mahathir, however, rejected all criticism and did not apologize. The only step taken was an official Malaysian letter, not from Mahathir himself, to the UN Council on Human Rights claiming that Mahathir was incorrectly quoted in the media and "never intended to insult Jews or cause them distress." Whereas the World Jewish Congress praised the letter and considered the incident closed, Israel did not see it as an adequate apology.
On 21 June 2003, officials of Mahathir's political party distributed copies of Henry Ford's anti-Semitic book The International Jew to delegates at their annual assembly, where Mahathir delivered a speech. On 16 October that year at a meeting of the OIC in Kuala Lumpur, two weeks before stepping down as prime minister, Mahathir delivered an anti-Semitic diatribe, saying among other things that "the Jews rule the world." Although many countries outside the OIC objected, he did not retract. The Egyptian foreign minister and other Muslim figures praised his remarks and supported him.
Nevertheless, during these years the signs of a thaw continued. In 1998 a Malaysian, for the first time since 1965, took a course on community development in Israel.32 In February 2000 two Israeli teams, male and female, participated in a ping pong tournament in Malaysia. The opposition Muslim political party warned the government of "undesirable consequences" and claimed Israel was an "illegal country." The minister of sport responded that Malaysia could not discriminate against any country if it wished to hold international sport competitions and especially if it wanted to host the Asia Games in 2006. He affirmed that Malaysia's view of Israel as oppressor of the Palestinians remained in force.
Since succeeding Mahathir as prime minister in October 2003, Dato Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi has reiterated Malaysia's total support for the Palestinians and severely criticized Israel, though in a style less crude than Mahathir's. He accused Israel of state terrorism and of inflicting evils on the Palestinians that were starting to resemble the atrocities undergone by the Jews themselves. He said in a speech on 14 September 2005, "We must maintain a distinction between acts of terrorism and the right of people fighting for self-determination," implying that Palestinian terrorism was justified. He criticized suicide bombings as inexpedient but not as immoral.
Conclusion
Despite Malaysia's many provocations regarding Israel, especially during Mahathir's tenure, the country has not generally been of great interest to Israeli policymakers or to Asia specialists in its Foreign Ministry. Sharett was an exception, and Meir in the 1960s and Rabin in the 1990s also showed some interest. Otherwise prime ministers and foreign ministers have been indifferent, even though Mahathir's pronouncements in particular could have prompted Israeli countermeasures in the United States.
Malaysian politicians from time to time state that they will not open diplomatic relations with Israel so long as the Palestinian problem is not solved.
