by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
April 25, 2012 at 4:45 am
April 25, 2012 at 4:45 am
"How many Jews have Malaysians met in their life? I'll bet at least 50% of the Malaysian population have never met a Jew in their whole life. Just how much do we know about the history of the Palestine-Israel conflict? Has anyone read the Balfour Declaration? Just what is our problem with Israel?" — Abdul Hallem Abdul Rahlman, journalist.An anti-Semitic sermon prepared and distributed by the Malaysian Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department was aired on March 30 in all the mosques of the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. The sermon called "to understand that Jews are the main enemy to Muslims as proven by their egotistical behavior and murders performed by them."
The sermon, as the media outlet Malaysian Insider reported, also called on community leaders to understand the importance of Jerusalem for Muslims. "The honor of al-Quds [Jerusalem] and the al-Aqsa mosque must be defended by all Muslims, as it is holy land that must be blessed," the sermon had stated.
The media outlet, the Malaysian Insider explained that anti-Semitic feelings in Malaysia, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel, are not something new. and that the sermon was just a confirmation of the strong anti-Semitic and anti-Israel feelings in the country. The Malaysian National Censorship Board in March 1994 even banned the film "Schindler's List" from the country's cinemas, in accordance with the country's long-standing anti-Semitic cultural policies, according to Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute,
In March 2012, the Malaysian opposition, Pakatan Rakyat (PKR), started to pressure the government also to legislate the banning of all ties with Israel, direct or indirect. The PKR leader even said that Malaysia should ban "the use of our ports by any company that has a trade interest with the Zionist regime." A Malaysian scholar based in Singapore, Dr. Farish A. Noor, further commented in the Malaysian Insider that as elections in Malaysia are around the corner all political parties are competing to show how "anti-Israeli" they can be. Read the rest on:
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