COMMENT | Is M'sia's action of 'I don't want to friend you Israel!' actually working?
COMMENT | Looks like Malaysia is back as an intolerant nation once again in the eyes of the international community. It has been reported in the news that Malaysia is refusing to grant visas for Israeli players to participate in The World Team Championship for squash which will be happening in December.
This isn’t the first time Malaysia has been involved in something like this. Two years ago, in 2019, Malaysia was not allowed to host the World Para Swimming Championships because we refused to allow Israeli swimmers to participate in the tournament. It was big news at the time too.
A year before that...
COMMENT | Looks like Malaysia is back as an intolerant nation once again in the eyes of the international community. It has been reported in the news that Malaysia is refusing to grant visas for Israeli players to participate in The World Team Championship for squash which will be happening in December.
This isn’t the first time Malaysia has been involved in something like this. Two years ago, in 2019, Malaysia was not allowed to host the World Para Swimming Championships because we refused to allow Israeli swimmers to participate in the tournament. It was big news at the time too.
A year before that, in 2018, the Kuala Lumpur Major, an international e-sports tournament, saw the team Ninjas in Pyjamas dropping one of their members because he is an Israeli. Team captain Peter Dager stated that they were concerned if their teammate was able to obtain a visa to participate in the DOTA tournament.
If we go back a little bit further to 2011 during the football tour of English Premier League team Chelsea to Malaysia, their then Israeli player Yossi Benayoun, had been allowed to come. However, during their match with the Malaysian national team, Benayoun had suffered all kinds of jeering and abuse from the spectators.
Chelsea had lodged a formal complaint against the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) for the alleged racial abuse. For that particular incident, the Malaysian FA had indeed issued an apology to Chelsea and Benayoun. It had stated that they do not condone any form of racism in football.
On the outside, it does look bad on Malaysia for being discriminating towards Israel. Malaysia seems to be anti-semitic and racist against Israelis and Jews. Whatmore when Malaysia is also seen as a majority-Muslim country with a Muslim population of about 60 percent of the whole nation.
But this is a tricky one. Formally, Malaysia has no diplomatic ties with Israel. Open up our Malaysian passport and you will notice that it states that the passport is valid for travel to all countries except Israel. Malaysians aren’t allowed to enter Israel and Israelis aren’t allowed to enter Malaysia.
It’s clear why the situation is like that. Malaysia does not agree with Israel’s actions when it comes to Palestine. Look at the West Bank and Gaza strip. The Palestinian territories are shrinking as every year goes by as Israel rapidly intrudes into their borders and occupy more land. Israel’s foreign policy and it’s ill-treatment of Palestine has always been an issue of contention.
In protest of this, the Malaysian government has pulled all diplomatic ties with Israel. This is exactly what Malaysia had also done in the 1980s and 1990s towards South Africa when they were under apartheid and had a segregrated system discriminating against the black population.
This pulling of diplomatic ties included everything, from politics to economy and even in sports and culture. Many other countries did the same thing and eventually, South Africa was pressured into ending the apartheid. Rightfully so, I would say, and at that point, Malaysia was definitely not seen as racist or discriminatory.
But is Malaysia’s action against Israel now working or even relevant? A political, economic and societal boycott like the one against South Africa needs to have the support and sanction of many nations and governments for it to work. If you’re the only one doing it, nothing is going to happen. It could even backfire (sort of how it is now for Malaysia).
Personally, I think there needs to be a more inclusive approach. At the moment, all we’re doing is persecuting individuals and penalising a society that might not even agree with their nation’s policies. Excluding everything and everyone just won’t work anymore.
Like it or not, the situation already exists and it is the way it is. Even Israel’s neighbours are accepting the fact and countries like Jordan and Egypt have acknowledged this. So maybe it is time to give space for dialogue and discussion. Be the nice guy and start talks. That’s how it works now in a “woke” society.
Of course, political pressure should also be pushed. The Malaysian government has been opposed to Myanmar’s policies for a while and we have made many statements condemning them. In fact, we have even initiated things to be done by Asean. Although, we could still do more, especially when it comes to the Rohingya.
Recently, one of my best friends, Arif Rafhan Othman, illustrated a book titled The Last Jews of Penang written by Zayn Gregory and published by another old friend of mine, Amir Muhammad, at Matahari Books. It’s a nice graphic novel that tells the story of the small Jewish community that existed in Penang.
It’s a nice and simple story that is non-judgmental, clear and gives us a realisation that the world is so much bigger than all of us. I would recommend this book to everyone in Malaysia. It can be bought at Kedai Fixi bookstores in Setia Alam and Sunway Putra Mall as well as their online store on Shopee.
Yes, it’s a plug. But it’s a good and relevant one, I promise.
Basically, all I’m saying is that condemnation and discrimination do not work anymore. We need to have a more tolerant and inclusive society. The world has been shaped the way it has. So we need to have more inclusive and open channels of communication. We don’t have to always agree but only by listening and engaging can we at least come to terms with it and have an understanding.
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. He had waited so long for a change in the system and he is not willing to settle for a half-past-six change. And then the Sheraton Move happened. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
