Xenophobia fuelling backlash against treating Palestinians in Malaysia, says Shahril

August 21, 2024

Xenophobia fuelling backlash against treating Palestinians in Malaysia, says Shahril

PETALING JAYA: Xenophobia is one of the reasons for the backlash against the government’s move to bring injured Palestinians into Malaysia for medical treatment, says former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.

Shahril said the anti-foreigner and anti-refugee sentiment among Malaysians regardless of religion was apparent, especially when individuals or groups from communities like the Rohingya and Bangladeshi committed criminal acts or engaged in behaviour that caused unease among locals.

“This sentiment has been left unchecked, and we are afraid to speak out against it. When we do, we’re labelled as part of the T20 group, with remarks like, ‘If you care so much, why don’t you take them into your home?’

“These xenophobic comments contribute to the issue, and when applied to the Palestine situation, this may be part of the problem – when we allow xenophobia to be left unchallenged,” he said in the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

He also said the anti-foreigner sentiment was especially strong against those who were “not white, not rich and from a third world country”.

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“We tend to dismiss the entire community (based on a few individuals’ actions), questioning why they deserve our help,” he said.

Shahril also said some of the backlash was due to groups deemed “ultra-liberals” who always found a problem with “anything with an Islamic twist on it”.

“I don’t quite agree with such categorisation (ultra-liberal label) but they’re a group who are never satisfied with any initiative that has Islamic elements,” he said, adding that the group perceived such initiatives as an effort towards Islamisation.

Others, he said, tended to engage in “whataboutism” by ignoring the pros and cons of an effort and deflecting the issue by asking why the government did not try to help others in need.

His co-host for the Keluar Sekejap podcast, Khairy Jamaluddin, had questioned the humanity of the critics who slammed the government for transporting over 127 Palestinians into Malaysia last Friday for medical treatment.

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Khairy said it was part of the Malaysian identity to help those in need, citing the country’s deployment of over 3,000 special forces to Congo as part of its contribution to the United Nations’ peacekeeping missions in the 1960s.

“It comes back to our identity as a people, what it means to be Malaysian. When I see (negative) comments, they seem so divorced from our history as a country that is a proud and responsible member of the community of nations.”