KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s new government has categorically rejected media reports that it might normalize ties with Israel, in what analysts said on Thursday was an affirmation of the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign policy.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah issued a statement on Wednesday evening saying Malaysia stood by its “unwavering commitment” to supporting the Palestinian cause and struggle against the “continued Israeli illegal occupation and systematic oppression.”
The statement came as Israel’s minister of regional cooperation Issawi Frej told Frej told Erem News Agency on Monday that Malaysia was among the countries that might join the Abraham Accords — American-sponsored agreements brought about normalization of diplomatic ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
“Malaysia categorically rejects a statement reportedly made by an Israeli official during a recent interview with Erem News claiming that Malaysia may join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel,” Abdullah said.
He added the Palestinian people have been suffering “discriminatory policies, denial of basic human rights, imposition of harsh living conditions, as well as confiscation of their land and property” for many decades.
“These and other inhumane acts committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinians are tantamount to the crime of Apartheid and clearly inconsistent with the pursuit of peace and peaceful co-existence in the region,” he said, vowing Malaysia’s continuous bilateral and international support for the Palestinian struggle and an independent State of Palestine.
As Malaysia’s new government took office only slightly more than a month ago, Abdullah’s stance is seen as an affirmation of the country’s foreign policy, in which the Palestinian cause plays a major role.
“Over the years the Palestinian cause has been shaped up by successive Malaysian governments to be perhaps the single most important and perennial wider foreign-affairs issue,” Dr. Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, told Arab News.
“The exaltation of the Palestinian cause has become so entrenched in the Malay-Muslim psyche that it would perhaps be unthinkable to adopt the Abraham Accords as some more pragmatically minded Arab countries did.”
For Dr. Mustafa Izzuddin, senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, the foreign minister’s statement was also the Malaysia’s government’s attempt to distance itself from Israel’s negotiations with other Muslim countries
“The Malaysian government viewed it as important and necessary to make clear the country’s position on the Abraham Accords so as not to be dragged into Israel’s public diplomacy of being recognized by more countries in the Islamic world through normalization of bilateral relations,” he said.
The move, however, was not only directed toward the international community, but also to highlight the new government’s support for Palestine, which is entrenched in Malaysia’s domestic politics.
“Malay Muslim politicians in Malaysia use Palestine issue to gain support among Muslims,” Prof. James Chin, director of Asia Institute at University of Tasmania, told Arab News. “It is quite clear this government is Malay first, they are using this issue to mobilize support on the Malay ground.”
Malaysia says won’t be next to normalize ties with Israel
https://arab.news/9z8dw
Malaysia says won’t be next to normalize ties with Israel
- Foreign minister’s statement came as an Israeli minister told the media Malaysia was among the countries that might join the Abraham Accords
- Statement is seen as an affirmation of Malaysia’s foreign policy, in which the Palestinian cause plays a major role
North Korean POWs in Ukraine seeking ‘new life’ in South
- North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies
SEOUL: Two North Korean prisoners of war held by Ukraine have said they hope to start a “new life” in South Korea, according to a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday.
Previous reports have indicated that the two men, held captive by Kyiv since January after sustaining injuries on the battlefield, were seeking to defect to the South.
But the letter represents the first time the two of them have said so in their own words.
“Thanks to the support of the South Korean people, new dreams and aspirations have begun to take root,” the two soldiers wrote in a letter dated late October to a Seoul-based rights group which shared it with AFP this week.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies.
At least 600 have died and thousands more have sustained injuries, according to South Korean estimates.
Analysts say North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies from Russia in return.
North Korean soldiers are instructed to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, according to South Korea’s intelligence service.
In the letter, the two prisoners thanked those working on their behalf “for encouraging us and seeing this situation not as a tragedy but as the beginning of a new life.”
“We firmly believe that we are never alone, and we think of those in South Korea as our own parents and siblings and have decided to go into their embrace,” they wrote.
The letter is signed by the two soldiers, whose names AFP has been asked to withhold to protect their safety.
- ‘Death sentence’ -
Under South Korea’s constitution, all Koreans — including those in the North — are considered citizens, and Seoul has said this applies to any troops captured in Ukraine.
The letter was delivered during an interview for a documentary film coordinated by the Gyeore-eol Nation United (GNU) rights group, which works to help North Korean defectors.
That interview took place at an undisclosed facility in Kyiv where the two POWs are being held after they were captured.
During the interview, the pair also pleaded to be sent to the South, according to GNU chief Jang Se-yul, himself a North Korean defector who fled the isolated country in the 2000s.
The video has not yet been made public but is expected to be released next month, Jang said.
Yu Yong-weon, a lawmaker who met with the prisoners during a visit to Ukraine in February, said the prisoners had described witnessing wounded comrades kill themselves with grenades.
Sending the soldiers back to the North would constitute “a death sentence,” Yu said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry has urged Ukraine not to “forcibly repatriate North Korean prisoners of war against their will” and has asked that their desire to go to the South be respected.
