British MP tweets support for Malaysian cyclist

Britain's Respect Party MP for Bradford West, George Galloway has expressed his support for national cyclist Azizulhasni Awang, who wore a pair of "Save Gaza" gloves during the quarterfinals of the men’s cycling event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The gloves, however, garnered a negative reaction from the Commonwealth Games authorities who view the act as a political protest.

Galloway, an anti-war activist, tweeted that he hoped the Commonwealth Games authorities will not penalize the cyclist for his actions during the games.

I do hope the Games authorities won't be so stupid as to try and punish this Malaysian cyclist hero #Gold4Courage pic.twitter.com/HdraXrCkRs
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) July 26, 2014

A spokesman at the Games said they have requested for the Malaysian chef de mission for a report in order to find out the facts before any actions are taken against Azizulhasni.

Galloway is known for being a staunch supporter of Palestine and a scathing critic of Israel, his hatred for the "Zionist state" echoes in all his rhetoric.

In 2013, he famously left a debate at Oxford University after he discovered his opponent was an Israeli and was heavily criticised for his actions for advocating the Palestinian cause.

Galloway had also opposed the 1991 Gulf War and was critical of Britain's involvement in attacking Iraq.