Why Is Malaysia One of the World’s Most Anti-Semitic Countries?

According to a 2014 survey by the Anti-Defamation League, 60 percent of Malaysians hold anti-Semitic beliefs—the highest proportion of any country in Asia outside the Middle East. Hatred of Jews also figures prominently in Malaysian political discourse, rearing its head most recently in the context of the corruption scandal now rocking the country. Jon Emont connects these sentiments to the country’s own social and ethnic divisions:

Anti-Jewish prejudice in Malaysia did not develop in response to the tiny population of Jews who lived here, but instead was tuned to the frequencies of a Muslim world that saw the rise of Israel—and the subjugation of the Palestinians—as the religion’s great humiliation. . . . [Now commonplace in Malaysia is the] idea . . . that Jews are using rival political parties as proxies to dismantle the Muslim Malaysian state. . . .

There are strong similarities between the prejudice that Jews faced in Europe and the one faced by ethnic Chinese throughout Southeast Asia. In both cases, heightened senses of nationalism in host countries in the 20th century led to systematic persecution of the “entrepreneurial minority” based on accusations that the minority was abusing its host country’s generosity and exploiting locals for its community’s own benefits. . . .

[Furthermore, the Muslim, ethnically Malay] ruling party, [now using anti-Semitic allegations to defend its prime minister from charges of corruption], is facing a challenge from an Islamist party that promotes the use of Islamic law. Despite their major philosophical differences, this party and the ethnic-Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) have formed an alliance to challenge the ruling United Malay National Organization, so linking DAP with Jewish money could be an attempt to undermine this alliance . . . [in] an attempt to “out-Muslim” rival political parties.

Read more at Tablet

More about: Anti-Semitism, East Asian Jewry, Malaysia, Politics & Current Affairs, Southeast Asia

Expand Gaza into Sinai

Feb. 11 2025

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.

Read more at RealClear Politics

More about: Donald Trump, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula