A sense of tension between Malaysia and Israel undoubtedly exists following the many events that have transpired between the Zionist-controlled country and Palestine so far.
When Israel launched an attack on Gaza in May, Malaysians joined forces to launch a cyberwar on the state which have prompted a back and forth cyberwar. This has also led to Malaysians spamming the word ‘israelkoyak’ in the comments section of prominent Israeli activists.
Adding fuel to fire, Israeli activists have used the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to poke fun at Malaysians by comparing medal tallies. Previously, an activist had proudly poked fun of Malaysia via a tweet, after Israel won a bronze medal in the women’s taekwondo under 49kg at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Ironically, the comparison came only one day after the 2020 Olympic Games took place.
Oh, hi #Malaysia. After Day 1 at #Tokyo2020 #Olympics, look who’s ahead? Regards, Team #Israel!
cc. @IdoDaniel @emilykschrader pic.twitter.com/1TjNfSd4R8
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) July 24, 2021
Recently, Israeli content creator Emily Schrader who is no stranger to Malaysians released a TikTok video on Twitter mocking Malaysia’s ranking in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In the video, she shows off that Israel was in 36th place on the medal tally after having won a gold and two bronze medals whilst Malaysia is in the 70th spot after only having won a bronze medal so far.
According to the updated official Olympic medal tally, Israel is now in the 51st spot whilst Malaysia is 79th.
Israel in 36th place for Olympic medals! Let’s see where #Malaysia is!
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.Keep going
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.70th ?#koyaktoyoutoo friends. ❤️??@IdoDaniel @Ostrov_A @HananyaNaftali pic.twitter.com/UiIL3gXBXp
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) August 1, 2021
“Israel in 36th place for Olympic medals! Let’s see where #Malaysia is….#koyaktoyoutoo friends.”
Naturally, the tweet has attracted the attention of Malaysians who spared no effort in retaliating on Twitter and even bringing back the #israelkoyak hashtag which has been trending again over the past few days. At the same time, some Malaysians have spoken up against their mockery against Malaysia.
Human rights activist Michelle Yesudas said that “I’d rather have a poor medal tally than a govt that is potentially complicit in war crimes & crimes against humanity tbh.”
IDK why people from Israel are making fun of Malaysia's Olympic medal haul when they were unhappy with us using the hashtag #israelkoyak on Twitter.
I'd rather have a poor medal tally than a govt that is potentially complicit in war crimes & crimes against humanity tbh
— Michelle Yesudas ? (@MichelleYesudas) August 3, 2021
Another netizen highlighted the fact that even though we might not be ranked as highly, our athletes have acted much more professionally and are well behaved in comparison to certain Israeli athletes.
Atleast athletes from Malaysia behave well in Tokyo
meanwhile #israelkoyak… https://t.co/Cvsvdk93dA pic.twitter.com/2qS8PTE5FK
— hameed (@_hameedk17) August 3, 2021
Whilst another netizen explained that Malaysians have been too busy supporting our athletes that we do not really care about the rankings as what matters more is for the nation to be united and appreciative of our athletes.
“But hey look there’s a person who cares about our ranking more. Koyak will be forever KOYAK.”
Whatever the case, let us continuously support our athletes regardless of what position they are in. #TeamMalaysia
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comment section.
Also read: “Look who’s ahead?” Israeli Activist Mocks M’sia After Winning Their First Tokyo Olympics Medal