Recognising Israel?

FMT - Global boycott movement (BDS) schools DAP senator over call to set up embassy in Israel (extracts)

DAP senator Nga Hock Cheh

wonder whether he is related to Nga Kor Ming

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian chapter of a global boycott campaign against Israel has condemned a DAP senator for urging Putrajaya to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, saying his explanation reeks of Zionist propaganda.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Malaysia (BDS Malaysia) said Nga Hock Cheh not only showed his “naivety” of the conflict in Palestine, but also failed his own Christian faith by ignoring that Christians were also victims of Zionist aggression.

“Christian Palestinians are deprived of their human rights as much as their Muslim brethren. Bottom line is that you don’t have to be Muslim or Christian or Buddhist or Hindu to oppose what the Israelis are doing to Palestinians. You only have to be human,” BDS said in a strong reaction to remarks by Nga in the Dewan Negara recently.

Nga, a DAP leader from Perak, had expressed support for a proposal by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim for Malaysia to open an embassy in Palestine.

But he said Malaysia should take it a step further by opening its embassy in Israel and reap economic benefits from the new ties.

“Israel is very small country but it has very advanced technology in various field, especially in agriculture. Thailand has also benefited tremendously from the expertise and existence of Israel,” he told the Dewan Negara on April 24.

“So, we can also import the expertise for our agriculture to help to uplift the standard of living of the rural folks in this country,” he added.

Nga, who praised Dr Mahathir Mohamad as someone who is influential at the world stage, said the prime minister could broker peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.

“Peacemakers carry a special blessing in the scriptures, they are called ‘children of God’,” he said, adding that he would fail in his duty “as a senator with Christian faith if I do not alert the House about this”.

It is not wrong to be friendly with any nation including Israel per se, but the Israel we're talking about is an outcast from global society as White Supremacist South Afrika once was, namely, for its state policy of racism.

Now, some of you my dear readers, may ask what about Malaysia, one of the worst racist offenders there is on Earth.

Malaysia has probably got away with it by cloaking its racism and socio-politico-economic apartheid behind the veil of so-called affirmative actions but one which does NOT discriminate between haves and have-nots but rather between Malays and non-Malays.

Malaysia also does not physically separate one race from another in public parks, social centres, beaches, etc, although it sneakily and shamefully does in some schooling (especially at tertiary levels) and senior public positions. One naked bare-face example is that ONLY a Malay can be the Prime Minister - that is Apartheid but not to the extent of South Afrika or Israel because Malaysia does have non-Malay ministers (admittedly in less important ministries). 

The Malay-led authority/government has officially proclaimed the Malays as the 'disadvantaged' - which is ONLY partially right because the group comprises also the very rich, affluent, powerful, land-owning and privileged, even above the economic-financial positions of most non-Malays.

Back to Israel which DAP Senator proposes that Malaysia recognise.

It's not only dedicated staunch (especially evangelistic) Christians like Senator Nga who are inclined towards a friendly relationship with the nation of Israel because of its historical-geographical-religious pedigree, but also some non-Muslim Malaysians. 

One of the reasons that I suspect is that they (the non-Muslim non-Christian Malaysians) do not share BDS' views on Israel's treatment of Christians. They think that 'Christians' would be Americans (North & South), Europeans, Australians, Kiwis, Africans or Asians (eg. Chinese, Indians, South Korean, Filipinos, etc).

If only they have read BDS' message to Senator Nga, to wit: "Nga Hock Cheh not only showed his “naivety” of the conflict in Palestine, but also failed his own Christian faith by ignoring that Christians were also victims of Zionist aggression", implying that some Arabs were also Christians.

Indeed, BDS continued: "Christian Palestinians are deprived of their human rights as much as their Muslim brethren. Bottom line is that you don’t have to be Muslim or Christian or Buddhist or Hindu to oppose what the Israelis are doing to Palestinians. You only have to be human."

BDS itself is naive to think only Muslims, some Christians, Buddhists or Hindus oppose what the Israelis are doing to Palestinians. In reality I would dare say only (and even then, only MOST but not all) Muslims are guaranteed to be against Israel.

Some or even many Hindus, Buddhists and especially Christians are pro Israel or at worst, neutral, chiefly because they fear the Islamists more for their violence (as the Middle-East people once feared the Christian Crusaders and today fear the American brand of far more drastic violence). They associate Palestinians with violence, but being politically myopic, they fail to see the Israelis are equally violent.

last photo above - 17 in one family killed
by Israeli fighter jet attacks
There were MORE Israeli atrocities towards children and civilians that I've blogged on

In Malaysia, most non-Malays non-Muslims dislike Palestinians for no other reason than the Palestinians are Muslims (not true because there are Christian Palestinians, eg. Suiha Arafat, wife of the late Yasser Arafat - Dr Hanan Ashrawi, member of Palestinian Leadership Committee - George Habash, founder of the PFLP and the Arab Nationalist Movement - and more).

And the reason for their anti-Palestinian (incorrectly perceived as ALL being Muslims) is because at home they are anti-Malay (99.9999999% Muslims).

Surrogate object of dislike or even hatred.

The irony is that the Palestinians are ill-treated by the ketuanan Israelis just as the non-Malay Malaysians are marginalised in one way or another by the ketuanan Malays. Even pro Israeli Helen Ang, once my blogging buddy, had once courageously pointed thus out.

Food for thought?

But while it's not wrong to be friendly with Israelis and Israel, it's truly stupid of Senator Nga to propose such a diplomatic tie with the Jewish nation today when (1) the world (except for the USA and cronies and some right-wing nations like BJP-led India) is shunning Israel, and (2) Mahathir is PM.

But the one gem I derive from Senator Nga's proposal is his statement, namely, "he would fail in his duty “as a senator with Christian faith if I do not alert the House about this”, that is, to have ties with his 'Holy Land'.

Yes, he is from the DAP, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah

(in Hebrew it means 'We praise God')