Syed Saddiq: Safeguarding rights of Palestinians more important than a swim meet

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 —  Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has clarified that he is not out to penalise the Israeli people for their government’s treatment against Palestinians.

Commenting on Malaysia’s refusal to allow Israeli athletes to compete at the World Para-Swimming Championships in Sarawak in July this year, he said protecting the rights of the Palestinian is more important than a sporting event.

“If hosting an international event is more important than safeguarding the interest of our Palestinian brothers and sisters who have been mutilated time and time again, if that is more important, than we have lost our moral conscience and our moral compass,” he said on BBC’s programme, HARDtalk.

“The state is the locus of our collective moral actions. While it is not the fault of all Israelis, similarly in the context of Palestinians, it is not the fault of all Palestinians for the aggression of some,’’ he said.

Syed Saddiq said that he does stand to penalise a person based on his or her ethnicity but of their action, citing further that he does not condone the actions taken by Israel under its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Palestinians.

“I’m against the atrocities by the Netanyahu government. It is the actions which I stand firmly against, not the race of persons but their actions,” he said.

Syed Saddiq added that Malaysia will always speak up against human rights violations despite facing “consequences” and stated that the country is “progressive” and stand for the rule of law.

Malaysia’s refusal to allow Israeli athletes to take part in the competition has led to criticism from leaders abroad with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad even accused of being anti-Semitic.

On Tuesday, Dr Mahathir said in Vienna that Malaysia has the right not to allow athletes from a “criminal country” like Israel to enter the country

“The Americans are building a high wall to keep the Mexicans from going to the US. For us, we have just as much right as the US in keeping out undesirables or terrorists.

“People who are undesirable for our country must be kept out and this includes people suspected of being terrorists and the like.

“We have that right and we must exercise that right,” Dr Mahathir had told a press conference.