World is not blind to the West's hypocrisy: Malaysian PM on Israeli aggression in Gaza

The world is not blind to the hypocrisy of Western leadership as it has repeatedly failed to condemn Israeli aggression, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said regarding the situation unfolding in Gaza. 

"A good student of history and geopolitics wouldn't be necessarily surprised that there is so much contradiction and hypocrisy in the arena of international politics," the Malaysian PM said drawing marked parallels with Russia's invasion of Ukraine during an interview with Arab News on Friday (20 October). 

"For example, it condemns Russia for the aggression because of the Russian decision to take a Russian enclave in Ukraine. Fair. That is condemned. But with Israeli aggression taking over the legitimate lands of the Palestinians, that is condoned.," he said, adding, "We must wake up and see the stark hypocrisy that cannot continue." 

Anwar Ibrahim, who attended the inaugural GCC-ASEAN Summit in Riyadh, said the conflict in the Middle East had exposed what he saw as a proclivity for "contradiction and hypocrisy" in international politics, noting that there is "talk about human rights on one end," but the denial of those same rights to others.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in his opening address at the summit, said: "As we gather, we are saddened by the escalating violence that Gaza is witnessing today, the price of which is being paid by innocent civilians."

He underscored the need to "stop military operations against civilians ... and to create conditions for the return of stability and the achievement of lasting peace that ensures reaching a just solution to establish a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders."

The Malaysian PM said the Saudi crown prince's remarks were "passionate and timely," adding that it was vital for an Arab leader to take not only a "firm" position on the crisis in Gaza but also one based on "humanitarian grounds."

Addressing the summit in his role as its country coordinator, Anwar reiterated the Saudi crown prince's desire to see a two-state solution based on historic borders within the 1967 boundaries. He said Malaysia was fully behind the efforts of Saudi Arabia and the GCC to bring the fighting to a close and prevent the outbreak of a wider war.

He called on all nations to come together to find a long-lasting and just solution to prevent the situation from becoming "an unprecedented humanitarian crisis" that could widen into a regional and even into a global conflict.

"The Palestinians must be returned their land, homes and properties," Anwar said, adding, "They must be allowed to live in peace and dignity in their own sovereign state in internationally recognized borders, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."