Malaysia has long welcomed the Palestinian militant group with open arms, hosting its leaders and even maintaining an ‘unofficial embassy’ – much to Israel’s ire.
Built a decade ago with US$1.3 million in donations from Malaysian Muslims, the Muhammad al-Amin mosque in Gaza now lies in ruins, destroyed by an Israeli bombardment.
Videos circulated by the Gaza-based Muslim Care Malaysia Society aid group of the obliterated religious site have stirred up an outpouring of support in the Southeast Asian nation for a cause thousands of miles away.
“Don’t worry, we will contribute more [and build] a bigger mosque,” said a Malaysian user of social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
More tellingly, backing for the militant group Hamas – which led the assault on Israel last weekend that killed hundreds of mostly civilians – is so far undiluted.
Malaysia has over the years welcomed Hamas leaders who are denounced as terrorists by Israel and the West and been accused of hosting an unofficial Hamas embassy packaged up as a cultural office, an accusation it denies.
In apparent response, a Hamas member working at a Kuala Lumpur university was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2018 and another Palestinian was kidnapped last year, allegedly by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
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“Malaysia does not see Hamas as a terrorist organisation, rather it considers Hamas as fighting for the freedom of Palestine,” said political analyst Tunku Mohar Mokhtar of the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur.
“Malaysia is sympathetic to Palestine in general, and does not really distinguish whether it is Hamas or the Palestine Liberation Organisation,” he added, referring to the umbrella group that is internationally recognised as the official representative for Palestinians globally.
In a press conference on Thursday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Islamic State group, saying “no leader should meet them, no country should harbour them and those that do should be sanctioned.”
While neighbouring Singapore backs Israel, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong calling Hamas’ attack an act of terrorism in a letter to Netanyahu, signs of solidarity with the Palestinians are abundant in Malaysia.
Palestinian flags flutter within sight of the Petronas Twin Towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur and at parliament on Thursday, Islamist party PAS cast aside its animosity towards the Chinese-majority DAP party to join a photo call in which their leaders pledged 1 million ringgit (US$212,000) to the cause through the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to Malaysia, Walid Abu Ali.
Malaysia has also long welcomed Hamas with open arms – and it is not coy about doing so, either.
At the Kuala Lumpur Summit in 2019 that brought together leaders of the Muslim world, Malaysia invited Hamas, represented by former leader Khaled Meshaal.
