Antisemitism is the prejudice and hostility towards Jewish people.
With that being said, Malaysia has been very vocal in regards to the war going on between Palestine and Israel, as we’ve vigorously showed our support for Palestine online and on ground. And obviously, some have not taken that very well.
The Israel War Room Twitter page has since accused Malaysia of antisemitism while allegedly trying to pit Malaysia and Singapore against each other by saying that Malaysia has ‘bullied’ Singapore for becoming developed with Israel’s help.
They wrote, “Malaysian antisemitism exposed. Ever wondered why online Malaysians are so venomous and hateful to Jews and the Jewish state? Well, there’s some history here. Southeast Asian history is replete with instances of Malaysia bullying and intimidating smaller neighbouring countries. One of those smaller countries is their southern neighbour, Singapore.”
They brought up how Singapore’s founding father and first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had previously credited Israel for helping to create the Singapore Army and accused Malaysia of being angry at Israel for helping Singapore separate from Malaysia and achieve independence.
“Today, Singapore’s army is widely considered to be the strongest in Southeast Asia. The structure of the Singapore Army and its relationship to the rest of Singaporean society was in many ways modeled after the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).”
While including another instance where, this time, Lee’s son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had attributed Israel for the development of the Singapore Armed Forces while no other country helped, they added,
“Malaysians hate Israel because Israel helped the small, defiant bastion of prosperity that is Singapore achieve independence and succeed against the wishes of a neighbour that wants to dominate it.”
Many were quick to point out that Malaysians do not hate Singapore (unless its a battle about who has better food), and only hate Israel over the violence against Palestine.
What do you think of Israel War Room’s statement?
Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: PDRM Confirms That Several International Schools in KL & Selangor Received Bomb Threats
