Andrew Sia
COMMENT | Let me answer the question in the headline with another question - will our schools allow official China or India "Solidarity Week" events if those two countries were unjustly invaded in future wars?
That perhaps goes to the heart of how different groups of Malaysians feel about the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
School students were recently seen carrying toy guns during Palestine Solidarity Week. There were even photos showing teachers dressed as guerrilla fighters and very young kids were encouraged to stomp on an Israeli flag.
The political reaction to this has had clear contrasts.
While DAP supports the government speaking out on Palestine, it opposes programmes that exhibit elements of armed violence in schools.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke also urged the Education Ministry to "reconsider" the solidarity week to instead foster a love for universal peace, humane values and "cross-cultural relationships".
COMMENT | Let me answer the question in the headline with another question - will our schools allow official China or India "Solidarity Week" events if those two countries were unjustly invaded in future wars?
That perhaps goes to the heart of how different groups of Malaysians feel about the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
School students were recently seen carrying toy guns during Palestine Solidarity Week. There were even photos showing teachers dressed as guerrilla fighters and very young kids were encouraged to stomp on an Israeli flag.
The political reaction to this has had clear contrasts.
While DAP supports the government speaking out on Palestine, it opposes programmes that exhibit elements of armed violence in schools.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke also urged the Education Ministry to "reconsider" the solidarity week to instead foster a love for universal peace, humane values and "cross-cultural relationships".
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke
Later, 12 PKR elected representatives, all of Chinese ethnicity, also called to "review" the programme to clear it of "elements of hatred and violence."
That all sounds reasonable yes? Who can be against love and peace? As Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.”
Hatred breeds more hatred
The opposite is ever more hatred. Why stop at toy guns? Will students next carry replicas of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles or anti-tank rockets as even more potent symbols of Palestinian resistance?
However, Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi took a rather more confrontational approach to the suggestions.
He said the ministry should not "succumb to pressure" where "certain quarters are taking advantage of one bad apple" (the toy gun incident) to urge the Education Ministry to drop the programme.
Now wait a minute, DAP and the 12 PKR reps were asking to "review" and "reconsider" the Palestine Solidarity Week, not to outright abolish it. Was Puad exaggerating so that he could score some political points?
Later, 12 PKR elected representatives, all of Chinese ethnicity, also called to "review" the programme to clear it of "elements of hatred and violence."
That all sounds reasonable yes? Who can be against love and peace? As Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.”
Hatred breeds more hatred
The opposite is ever more hatred. Why stop at toy guns? Will students next carry replicas of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles or anti-tank rockets as even more potent symbols of Palestinian resistance?
However, Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi took a rather more confrontational approach to the suggestions.
He said the ministry should not "succumb to pressure" where "certain quarters are taking advantage of one bad apple" (the toy gun incident) to urge the Education Ministry to drop the programme.
Now wait a minute, DAP and the 12 PKR reps were asking to "review" and "reconsider" the Palestine Solidarity Week, not to outright abolish it. Was Puad exaggerating so that he could score some political points?
Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi
I do not support Hamas killing Israeli civilians. I am also against the bombing and starving of many, many civilians in Gaza.
The United Nations said on Oct 27 that war crimes were being committed on both sides. But it's a natural human response to side with the weak against the strong, with David against Goliath.
Non-Malays next as enemies?
What is unspoken is how pro-Palestine events can morph into more ugly feelings to "fight Muslim enemies".
For example, during a rally in Kuantan, Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail accidentally said, "Palestin Pengecut, Palestin Hancur' (Coward Palestine, Destroy Palestine).
What he meant of course was "destroy Israel".
Now the problem is, can hatred for Israel and Jews among students turn into hatred for non-Malays? In Malaysia, sadly the answer is yes.
I do not support Hamas killing Israeli civilians. I am also against the bombing and starving of many, many civilians in Gaza.
The United Nations said on Oct 27 that war crimes were being committed on both sides. But it's a natural human response to side with the weak against the strong, with David against Goliath.
Non-Malays next as enemies?
What is unspoken is how pro-Palestine events can morph into more ugly feelings to "fight Muslim enemies".
For example, during a rally in Kuantan, Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail accidentally said, "Palestin Pengecut, Palestin Hancur' (Coward Palestine, Destroy Palestine).
What he meant of course was "destroy Israel".
Now the problem is, can hatred for Israel and Jews among students turn into hatred for non-Malays? In Malaysia, sadly the answer is yes.
Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin
Just before the 2022 general election (GE15), Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that Pakatan Harapan was an "agent of Jews and Christians" who were out to "colonise" Malaysia.
From there, flows the often-repeated line that DAP is an "ancaman" (threat) to Islam. This is, of course, extended to Harapan (and even Umno) which are all somehow magically "controlled" by the "big evil" DAP.
(Of course, long forgotten to political convenience is the fact that PAS was happy to ally itself with DAP in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to share power from 2008 to 2015.)
Before GE15, we had the spectacle where a Kedah PAS leader declared that those who vote for Harapan will "go to hell"; while another PAS event in Terengganu heard how it's okay to slaughter “kafir harbi" (infidels against whom war is justified).
Yeah, both of them apologised for their hateful remarks - but only after they were caught on viral social media platforms. One wonders how many other spiteful speeches went unrecorded.
Perhaps, this is why PAS is not shy of using military symbols to show it's "fighting for Islam", for example, during a procession bearing replicas of weapons and armour at Terengganu in February.
In its election campaigns, PAS has also displayed large models of tanks and even fighter jets.
"Us versus them"
Non-Malays have long felt official discrimination. For decades, the government promoted racial fear and “ketuanan Melayu” using the National Civics Bureau (with taxpayers’ money!).
This "us versus them" mentality was cultivated among students and civil servants. So, can one then blame non-Malays for feeling that Palestine is more of a "Muslim issue" belonging to "them", and not really concerning "us"?
A very balanced approach was given by Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, who heads the Parent Action Group for Education (Page). She said the Palestine Solidarity Week should not have a religious slant as the conflict was more of a historical one over land.
Just before the 2022 general election (GE15), Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that Pakatan Harapan was an "agent of Jews and Christians" who were out to "colonise" Malaysia.
From there, flows the often-repeated line that DAP is an "ancaman" (threat) to Islam. This is, of course, extended to Harapan (and even Umno) which are all somehow magically "controlled" by the "big evil" DAP.
(Of course, long forgotten to political convenience is the fact that PAS was happy to ally itself with DAP in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to share power from 2008 to 2015.)
Before GE15, we had the spectacle where a Kedah PAS leader declared that those who vote for Harapan will "go to hell"; while another PAS event in Terengganu heard how it's okay to slaughter “kafir harbi" (infidels against whom war is justified).
Yeah, both of them apologised for their hateful remarks - but only after they were caught on viral social media platforms. One wonders how many other spiteful speeches went unrecorded.
Perhaps, this is why PAS is not shy of using military symbols to show it's "fighting for Islam", for example, during a procession bearing replicas of weapons and armour at Terengganu in February.
In its election campaigns, PAS has also displayed large models of tanks and even fighter jets.
"Us versus them"
Non-Malays have long felt official discrimination. For decades, the government promoted racial fear and “ketuanan Melayu” using the National Civics Bureau (with taxpayers’ money!).
This "us versus them" mentality was cultivated among students and civil servants. So, can one then blame non-Malays for feeling that Palestine is more of a "Muslim issue" belonging to "them", and not really concerning "us"?
A very balanced approach was given by Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, who heads the Parent Action Group for Education (Page). She said the Palestine Solidarity Week should not have a religious slant as the conflict was more of a historical one over land.
Parent Action Group for Education chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim
Indeed, it is often forgotten (even in the West) that some 10 percent of Palestinians are actually Christians, although many have since left the Holy Land.
Famous Palestinian Christian leaders included George Habash, Wadie Haddad, Hanna Mikhail and Anis Sayegh (son of a Christian pastor).
But will the solidarity week take such a mature and educated view?
It seems that the "two-state solution", where both Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully, is the way out of the never-ending conflict.
But is the Malaysian approach more about "hancur Israel", as the Pahang MB meant to say? Will hatred for Jews then become hatred for churches?
After all, the "Christian threat" to Malays has been exploited too often by some politicians.
No wonder Sarawak (a Christian-majority state), is concerned with the programme.
Christians are called to bring about healing and reconciliation, but to complicate matters, there is also a debatable reading of the Bible that Israel must exist before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ can occur.
So the issue can get complicated.
Scoring political points?
Both Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and PAS have led huge recent rallies for Palestine. Is there some sort of "competition" to show who is more vocal about this issue?
Penang Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) has called on the government to end the exploitation of schools and children during the programme for the politics of adults.
Its vice-chairperson Ravinder Singh also questioned why, despite decades of moral and religious education, school indiscipline is "rampant"?
While the current suffering in Gaza is appalling, it is nowhere near the 370,000 people killed in the Yemen war since 2014.
Did we have nationwide Yemen Solidarity Week in Malaysian schools? If not, was it because of the awkward fact that Saudi Arabia was bombing civilians in Yemen? Not exactly convenient for scoring political points perhaps.
Yes, the grievances about Zionists grabbing land from Palestinians run deep. Many feel it's wrong for the strong to bully the weak.
But what about the grabbing of Orang Asli lands, the chopping down of their original jungle homes, just to make way for plantations owned by others?
Indeed, it is often forgotten (even in the West) that some 10 percent of Palestinians are actually Christians, although many have since left the Holy Land.
Famous Palestinian Christian leaders included George Habash, Wadie Haddad, Hanna Mikhail and Anis Sayegh (son of a Christian pastor).
But will the solidarity week take such a mature and educated view?
It seems that the "two-state solution", where both Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully, is the way out of the never-ending conflict.
But is the Malaysian approach more about "hancur Israel", as the Pahang MB meant to say? Will hatred for Jews then become hatred for churches?
After all, the "Christian threat" to Malays has been exploited too often by some politicians.
No wonder Sarawak (a Christian-majority state), is concerned with the programme.
Christians are called to bring about healing and reconciliation, but to complicate matters, there is also a debatable reading of the Bible that Israel must exist before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ can occur.
So the issue can get complicated.
Scoring political points?
Both Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and PAS have led huge recent rallies for Palestine. Is there some sort of "competition" to show who is more vocal about this issue?
Penang Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) has called on the government to end the exploitation of schools and children during the programme for the politics of adults.
Its vice-chairperson Ravinder Singh also questioned why, despite decades of moral and religious education, school indiscipline is "rampant"?
While the current suffering in Gaza is appalling, it is nowhere near the 370,000 people killed in the Yemen war since 2014.
Did we have nationwide Yemen Solidarity Week in Malaysian schools? If not, was it because of the awkward fact that Saudi Arabia was bombing civilians in Yemen? Not exactly convenient for scoring political points perhaps.
Yes, the grievances about Zionists grabbing land from Palestinians run deep. Many feel it's wrong for the strong to bully the weak.
But what about the grabbing of Orang Asli lands, the chopping down of their original jungle homes, just to make way for plantations owned by others?
Why is this seldom trumpeted by our politicians? Is it because the bullies in this case are not Jewish?
So how about an Orang Asli Solidarity Week in schools? Perhaps, charity should begin at home.
ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com
Watching videos of the Palestinian Solidarity protests, especially references to the Iblis Yahudi, it is obvious the Malay Muslim Community has dehumanised Jews to the same level of Nazis attitude towards Jews as Untermensch.
ReplyDeleteOoop… the current self-aggrandizement Zionists of Israel have a new term - humanoid animal - for the Palestinian!
DeleteIf the non-Muslims in Malaysia behave like zionists of course the majority of Malaysian will repel them.
ReplyDeleteThe Indians and Chinese of Malaysia should go and fight for India or China if others start a war with their ancestral lands. Jangan jadi kacang lupakan kulit.
& u?
DeleteQuestion is Can NON ISLAM Support ISREAL.....?? Better ASK WHO WANTS TO LIVE IN GAZA For 2 YEARS and WHO IN ISREAL....?? FROM THE ANSWER, YOU CAN DETERMINE THE NO OTAK RACIST BIGOTS SUPREMCIST GARBAGE LEFT IN MALAYSIAL SOCIETY!!
ReplyDeleteJust another anmokausai expression of that Mother Teresa expressiveness!
ReplyDeleteWhat's not been said in the write-up - religiosity!
Most of the Melayu looks at the Israel/Hamas war as the age-old doctrinal conflict of the Abrahamic tale of Ishmael & Isaac.
Thus Judaism vs Islam!
This fact might not be transparent but it's deep in the collective unconscious of the Israel/Arab national psyche.
By the religiosity extension, so too the Melayu. Ditto with mist of the Christian nations.
Thus, asking how the non-Malays feel about Palestine - with a hint of religious connotation - is a non starter!
Most of the Nons sympathise with the Palestinian DUE to humanitarian consideration. They also despise the cavalier attitude & self-aggrandisement of the Zionists & its pact of Holocaust-induced sympathisers.
There is NO wrong with Solidarity Week for the Palestine - as long as the element of religiosity DOESN'T getting involved - either directly or indirectly, expressively or suppressively!