Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir has been at the forefront of the anti-Israel protests for several years now through his father’s Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO). Three of the ships in the flotilla that sailed to break the Tel Aviv blockade of Gaza were sponsored by PGPO – to the tune of some 300,000 euros (RM1.2 million) for the vessels alone, if not much more.
On board MV Rachel Corrie as a PGPO representative is Mahathir Mohamad’s former political secretary Matthias Chang. Hence the Malaysian enterprise on behalf of the Palestinians should not be considered something supported by the Malay-Muslim community solely. And it is not only Chang who is the jihad flagbearer but other prominent non-Malay personalities as well from the church and the media (more about them later).
Mukhriz’s arch rival, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin has been leading the demos against Israel a few years too, ever since he was Umno Youth deputy chief. It is the youth wing’s franchise which has a special dispensation from our Polis Di Raja Malaysia (PDRM).
This licence to freely take to the streets is a privilege because PDRM have never used water cannons and teargas, or wielded their batons against the anti-Israel demonstrators. This reticence is quite unlike their punitive action on other rallies, even one for such an innocuous cause like defending our national language as the medium of instruction for Math and Science in schools.
Aside from the Jerlun and Rembau MPs, other Dewan Rakyat members from both sides of the political divide have been unanimous in condemning Israel. Anti-Zionism is a full-consensus parliamentary endeavour … without any exception or abstention. Just imagine if our Parliamentarians could be as equally spirited, cohesive and co-operative on other social issues like eradicating poverty or abolishing ISA.
National ‘bangsa’ hero returns
Mukhriz and Khairy’s tireless efforts notwithstanding, it is a lesser-known Umno MP who has crept into the limelight and stolen the thunder as the Most Dedicated One of All. Parit MP Mohd Nizar Zakaria was given a hero’s welcome upon his return home from the Gaza flotilla expedition.
On Wednesday, the reception committee officially recognised his heroic participation by putting on him a sash bearing the legend ‘Wira Bangsa Negara’.
However, heroism should not be a provenance restricted to the wira and wirawati bangsa who are willing to brave the high seas. Those doing their part by wielding the mighty pen deserve accolades too. On June 6, The Star devoted not one, not two but three! entire editorial voices to castigate Israel in no uncertain terms.
Yes, in a single day, The Star employed courageous, strong language never marshalled before for all our own homegrown efforts like Bersih, Hindraf and ‘Justice for Teoh Beng Hock’ combined.
Phrases such as “brazen and bloodthirsty??? to characterize Israel, “under the heel of a vicious regime??? to describe Palestinians, and how “nobody had to bleed or die??? to portray the Middle-East conflict valiantly shone forth in the opinion-editorial penned by Star associate editor Bunn Nagara.
Needless to say, all our mass media – or do I mean mass hysteria – joined the bash-wagon.
The Star says … ‘Palestinians of all faiths living in their own land are thus denied free access to food, medicines, clothes, educational materials, hospital equipment and building materials after the Israeli army demolished their homes – and human dignity. And all because Zionists from Europe several years ago decided to grab their land to create today’s state of Israel.’ |
Let’s just try a little experiment and substitute ‘Penan’ for ‘Palestinians’ while retaining the same imagery. So now The Star paragraph might read:
“Penans living in their own land are denied free access to food, medicines, clothes, educational materials, hospital equipment and building materials after big business encroached into their homes – and human dignity. And all because loggers from crony companies in Sarawak several years ago decided to grab their land to create easy profits for themselves.???
What the mainstream media is reluctant to comment on, fortunately for us, sees print in spunky alternative online media like Free Malaysia Today. Wrote FMT writer Joe Fernandez: “What would be Malaysia’s response if a foreign flotilla of ships, led by the Bruno Manser Foundation of Switzerland, were to head towards the Sarawak coast with 10,000 tonnes of medical and food supplies for the starving Penans????
Charge of the ‘Star’ brigade
The third of the Star sallies against Israel on June 6 came from its group editor Wong Chun Wai.
Again using the substitution method, we can take for our template what Wong had written about Palestinians and Israel, and re-use the very words from his stinging op-ed to instead express the situation at home.
So by simply replacing ‘Palestinians’ and ‘Israel’ with an appropriate local context while maintaining the rest of Wong’s write-up almost in toto, the op-ed penned by Star’s head honcho could have read like the following:
Time to bring the bully to heel“Just listen to the tone of the language used by the Inspector-General of Police after PDRM shot Aminulrasyid in the back of the head – it’s arrogant, defensive and aggressive.
Never mind the fact that the violent assault took place against a 15-year-old boy. It’s a clear violation of standard operating procedure. The police have also ignored that the excessive show of force that left a teenager dead and his same-age passenger beaten up.
If the Malaysian public expects remorse and regret, they would have waited in vain; this is not the first time and probably not the last for such a display of arrogance on the part of police.
This is a country where the police considers itself above the law.
It is untouchable and no one can blame PDRM for being smug when it has been let off with pathetic excuses every time an alleged ‘suspect’ is shot dead.
Thanks in part to Big Brother, Umno, which has made sure that the condemnation is not overly harsh.
There’s not even a squeak from the Prime Minister, who said on Sunday he regretted the incident (which happened Monday a week earlier) but that it was nonetheless unnecessary to call for the IGP to step down.
As in previous violations of human rights or to be more precise, the simplest form of human decency, the police see such a slap on the wrist as an encouragement to continue to disregard public opinion.
After the usual lame condemnation, the government will move on.
Aminul’s death would be swiftly forgotten, including the attack on Kugan, Francis Udayappan and all the rest in police lock-ups, and the same action would take place again, possibly more killings. The PM’s office would dust off their documents and issue the same sounding hypocritical condemnation of such aggression and persuade Malaysians to be soft to Polis Raja di Malaysia, their Umno ally.???
I would ask you to compare the passages above on police brutality with what Wong wrote in The Star about the Israelis. It is the exact same mould, same moral outrage, and same shrill register.
But you never hear such tough talk in the mainstream media about what happens here or such brave denunciations against the corrupt institutions and thuggish movements (e.g. Perkasa) propping up Umno, do you?
The black hole informing what’s been left unsaid is especially poignant when The Star bills itself as ‘the People’s Paper’; perhaps the self-referential tagline, on that day at least, should have been modified to ‘the Palestinian People’s Paper’.
Too bad the Penans aren’t pretty enough. It must be something about those doe-eyed Arabs that brings out the great Malaysian hero, usually so impotent in our own backyard.
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Time to bring the bully to heel
(‘On the Beat’ with Wong Chun Wai)
Just listen to the tone of the language used by Israel after its bloody attack on the humanitarian aid ship to Gaza – it’s arrogant, defensive and aggressive.
Never mind the fact that the violent assault took place in international waters. It’s a clear violation of international laws. The Israeli officials have also ignored that the excessive show of force left nine people dead.
If the rest of the world expects remorse and regret, they would have waited in vain; this is not the first time and probably not the last for such a display of arrogance on the part of Israel.
This is a country which clearly considers itself above international laws.
It is untouchable and no one can blame Israel for being smug when it has been let off with a pathetic watered down statement from the UN Security Council.
Thanks in part to Big Brother, the United States, which has made sure that the condemnation is not overly harsh.
There’s not even a squeak from President Barack Obama, who has conveniently made himself busy with the Louisiana oil spill.
As in previous violations of human rights or to be more precise, the simplest form of human decency, the Israelis see such a slap on the wrist as an encouragement to continue to disregard world opinion.
… After the usual global condemnation, the world will move on.
It would be swiftly forgotten, including the attack on the flotilla, and the same action would take place again, possibly more killings. US officials would dust off their documents and issue the same sounding hypocritical condemnation of such aggression and persuade other countries to be soft to their Israeli ally.