Malaysians turn to anti-Semitism in fight against Israel, and this is hurting Palestinians
On Friday (May 21), Israel and Hamas agreed on a cease-fire after nearly two weeks of violence that left at least 248 Palestinians killed including 66 children, and 12 Israelis including one child.
The cease-fire may not last long, and would only give Palestinians breather as they continue their lives under Israeli occupation and apartheid that has lasted decades.
It, however, slowed down the previous fervour among Malaysians, especially the majority Malay-Muslim community, which has undertaken an intense social media campaign which coincided with the end of Ramadan and Aidilfitri, not to merely spread awareness of the crisis but also attack Israel sympathisers.
This campaign has been lauded by among others the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia, whose chairman Muslim Imran claimed had been "influential and effective" in changing international public opinion.
There is no tangible way to prove this assertion, but it cannot be denied that this campaign has resurfaced the Palestinian-Israeli conflict back to the forefront of Malaysian attention.
But with it came renewed anti-Israeli vitriol, and regrettably unbridled anti-Semitism that has coloured many popular social media posts in support of the Palestinian cause here.
This is particularly not a surprise for a country that has been labelled sensationally as "a hotbed for anti-Semitism" and where anti-Semitic books are sold openly in bookstores, but also speaks of the citizens' ignorance of Jews and of the conflict itself.
Furthermore, this contrasts with Palestinian activists and their supporters across the world who have staunchly denounced anti-Semitic comments in defence of the cause, and even warned that such bigotry will only hurt the cause.
Standing up for Palestine means standing against racism in all it’s forms.
— Leanne M. (@LeanneMohamad) May 16, 2021
Hear this from a Palestinian - if you’re going to be anti-Semitic, violent or abusive, the Palestinian struggle doesn’t want you.
There’s no place for anti-Semitism in our Palestine solidarity movement.
Today, BBNU will analyse some of the more popular anti-Semitic tweets coming from Malaysian Twitter accounts in support of Palestine, and contrast it with efforts to combat this bigotry by other more enlightened users.
What is also the roots of anti-Semitism in Malaysia and its current prevalence, and how can we remedy this bigotry so that it would not impede the Palestinian cause?
We will discuss this more after the jump, for subscribers only. 👇