BDS Malaysia to lead peaceful protest against Trump at Asean Summit

Summary

• BDS Malaysia chairperson Nazari Ismail says US President Donald Trump is not welcome in Malaysia.

• Activist Tian Chua says the peaceful protest is purely on common position that they reject Trump’s visit.

• BDS Malaysia cautions against viewing Trump as a peacemaker and highlights that the US president only wants to use Asean as a platform to further his own agenda.

Palestinian liberation advocacy group Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Malaysia today announced that it will hold a joint protest with more than 23 partner organisations on Oct 26, to express their opposition to US President Donald Trump’s presence at the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Group chairperson Nazari Ismail said that although they respected the government’s official stance and diplomatic approaches, the public should still be allowed to express their views through a peaceful gathering in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

“We hope that millions of Malaysians will come out to show their displeasure and disagreement with the policies of the American government, now headed by Trump.

“Although we respect Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s decision as a country, we personally believe that Trump is still not welcome,” Nazari (above) said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present were representatives from Abim, Ikram, Global Peace Mission, Malaysian Humanitarian Aid Relief, and Parti Muda, among others.

Pushing for voices to be heard

Abim president Ahmad Fahmi Samsudin stressed that the group would be gathering under the provisions outlined by the Peaceful Assembly Act, and urged cooperation from the authorities to ensure their safety.

“We do not want to be seen as a group hijacking the Asean Summit. We believe that the prime minister is doing his best to be heard, but we also believe that CSOs and NGOs must push for our voices to be heard.

“The government must understand that we have our own stance and decisions on this matter. So we believe that the government and security agencies must still give us the platform to show our solidarity and express our stance,” he said.

Seasoned activist and former PKR vice president Tian Chua also said that the group strongly welcomed the support of progressive leaders who support the Palestinian cause, but wanted to use the gathering to highlight the devastating impact of Trump’s policies.

“We believe that our gathering is to remind Asean leaders and others at the summit that we cannot just ignore and sweep under the carpet the grave humanitarian crisis that is happening in Gaza and Palestine as a whole,” said Chua.

Further, he emphasised that the groups co-organising the protest will be from various backgrounds with diverse political views, positions, and ideologies, who have united in solidarity for Palestine.

“This gathering here, this coalition here, is purely on our common position that we reject the visit of Trump, and we want to remind the world that Trump is part of the complicit system that enabled the oppression against the Palestinian people. So that's our common stance,” said Chua.

Chua also reminded that the struggle for Palestinian statehood will continue, regardless of the outcome of Trump’s plans, and that the protest against Trump’s visit “is only one part of our overall campaign".

The other 23 signatories co-hosting the protest, which will take place at Ampang Park in Kuala Lumpur, include the youth group Mandiri, the political party Pejuang, the Secretariat Solidariti Palestin, and the Malaysian Ulama Association.

Trump ‘not a peacemaker’

The group also cautioned against viewing Trump as a peacemaker and highlighted that the US president only wanted to use Asean as a platform to further his own agenda, including brokering a ceasefire solely to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Trump’s latest Gaza peace plan is designed by Israelis to continue occupation of Palestinian land… his plan has no mention of ending occupation, no mention of complete withdrawal from the West Bank, no mention of the right of refugees to return… So how can you say this is a peace plan, when it is actually a plan for Israelis to continue subjugating Palestinians?” asked Nazari.

“To date, around 62,000 civilians have been killed, including almost 20,000 children. Money, military supplies and diplomatic cover continue to be provided by Trump to fuel the genocide, including the forced starvation of millions of innocent Palestinian civilians,” he added.

He also stressed that, “to host such a figure would be a betrayal of Malaysia's longstanding solidarity with the Palestinian people and a stain on our nation's diplomatic integrity.”

“Welcoming President Trump to Malaysia is not only inappropriate but profoundly offensive. There should be no red carpet, no official welcome, and no platform for a figure whose political legacy is so deeply intertwined with the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Nazari added.

Trump sets conditions for Asean meet

Last week, US media agency Politico reported that Trump is willing to attend the Asean Summit on condition that he is allowed to highlight his so-called regional peacemaking efforts.

Citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, Politico reported that the White House has made Trump’s attendance at the meeting conditional upon the Malaysian government agreeing to allow him to preside over a ceremonial signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of the summit.

The White House has also allegedly requested that summit organisers exclude Chinese officials from the event, in an apparent bid to keep the spotlight on Trump while downplaying Beijing’s mediation efforts between Bangkok and Phnom Penh during the Cambodian–Thai border crisis that happened this year.

The conflict stemmed from territorial disputes regarding the demarcation of their shared border.

Malaysiakini reached out to Anwar's office for a response following Politico's report, but has yet to receive one as of press time.

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