KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s rebuke of Western hypocrisy over Israel’s war in Gaza, made while in Germany during his official visit this week, is being shared widely on social media to much acclaim, including from prominent personalities.
Anwar has several times called out the West’s inconsistency as they side with Israel and refuse to support a ceasefire in Gaza, yet condemns Russia’s war on Ukraine.
His recent reiteration of this stance, however, drew particular attention as it was made in Germany, which supports Israel despite its dark past over the Holocaust. It was also delivered while Anwar was standing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a press conference on March 11.
Award-winning international singer-songwriter Maher Zain, who has 1.7 million followers on X, thanked Anwar and tagged the prime minister on the platform. Other prominent figures like Francesca Albanese, UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories also did the same.
“(Anwar) powerfully exposes the double standards typical of many Western countries, which hinder international peace including in Israel/Palestine,” Albanese said on X.
British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan also flagged Anwar’s remarks to his 1.5 million followers on X, saying: “We have reached a point where the prime minister of Malaysia now speaks for the majority of the world’s people, and not a European or Western leader”.
Former All Blacks player Sonny Bill Williams also tagged Anwar for “speaking facts”.
In the joint press conference, Scholz had defended Israel’s right to defend itself “at any cost” and emphasised the release of hostages and humanitarian aid.
To this, Anwar said: “You cannot find a solution by getting so one-sided in terms of looking at only one issue and erasing sixty years of atrocities”.
“The solution is not just releasing hostages. What about the settlements? What about the behaviour of the settlers which now continues daily?
“What about dispossession, their land, their rights, their dignity, their men, women and children? Are these of no concern?
“Where have we thrown our humanity? Why this hypocrisy?” Anwar said
Foreign correspondent and author Bruno Maçães described the Scholz-Anwar joint presser as a “stunning exchange”, noting that it is a “new world” but “Germany didn’t get the memo”.
Other western personalities on X also called this particular excerpt of the press conference “an immensely satisfying must-watch”, and an “amazing rebuke”.
“Europeans are increasingly getting lectures by the people they used to love to lecture. A little taste of their own medicine,” said one Nik Stankovic.
Anwar’s rebuke of the West – which also emphasised that the current war did not only begin on October 7 – was also headlined by some foreign media, such as the Middle East Monitor and Turkiye-based TRT World. – March 15, 2024