PNN – The Japanese media “Nikki Asia” believes that Malaysia has openly increased its support for the Palestinian issue in recent weeks, which could strain its relations with the United States.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, quoted by Niki Asia, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a speech on Sunday: The cabinet has “unanimously decided to stop all direct trade” with Israel.
Malaysia does not have diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime and has prohibited direct trade with it since 1974. According to Anwar, however, direct trade with Israeli companies was still carried out under the previous administration.
In the August 4th march, which had about 10,000 participants, Anwar took a tough stance on the Western countries close to the Zionist regime and said: Malaysia will not bow down to the opinions of the West or any country that dictates who we should support.
On August 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia condemned the Israeli attack on Gaza in a statement and implicitly criticized the American military support to this regime.
It is stated in this statement: Malaysia continues to ask Israel’s allies to force Tel Aviv to immediately stop the killing of innocent Palestinians and to stop providing Israel with the necessary tools to continue this genocide.
This Southeast Asian country has issued more than 10 statements condemning the attacks of the Zionist regime this year. But until recently, this country has been demanding a response from the international community or the United Nations.
Malaysia has intensified its criticism of the Zionist regime and its allies after the assassination of Martyr Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement on July 31.
Malaysia has been involved with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The government of this country objected to the removal of posts in which Anwar expressed condolences for the martyrdom of Haniyeh. They also called the removal of the posts “discriminatory” and “unfair”.
On August 5th, Malaysian authorities summoned representatives of Meta to explain the removal of these posts. Meta apologized the next day, claiming that there was an “operational error”.
Senior officials from the US Treasury Department traveled to Malaysia in May to discuss with government officials allegations of Iran circumventing sanctions through that country. At the time, Malaysia emphasized that it abides by the United Nations sanctions against the companies, but does not recognize unilateral sanctions.
Sophie Lemire, a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank based in Washington, believes: Anwar’s staunch support for the Palestinian group (Hamas) has raised eyebrows in Washington, where concerns about the financing of terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are deeply rooted.
Anwar has been getting closer to countries opposed to the United States, meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in June and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in late July.