Open letter to His Excellency, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Malaysia

YOUR Excellency,

First and foremost, we would like you to know that the United States which is now known the world over as the enabler and facilitator of genocide, the crime of crimes, neither has the credibility nor is well placed to lecture or offer advice to people in other countries on what they should or shouldn’t do.

The genocide in Gaza plainly is taking place due to the fact that the stronger, more powerful Zionist perpetrator views the lives of its Palestinian victims as being totally worthless because the latter is of a different race or religion. And the genocide continues unimpeded and assisted by the US government despite knowing the sheer racism behind it. The US government has its hands soaked in Palestinian blood and is guilty of racism, just like the Israelis.

You will therefore understand why we found it very galling when you, as a representative of a racist and genocide-enabling government, suddenly saw it fit to pretend that the welfare of Malaysian workers is of great concern to you. And this, we should remind you, was hot on the heels of news reports on the refusal of the US embassy to pay RM60,000 in damages to a Malaysian security guard who, according to an industrial tribunal, was unfairly dismissed. Your concern for Malaysian workers would seem much less hypocritical had your embassy accede to the industrial tribunal’s ruling.

We note that you use Malaysian workers as human shields in your argument against local boycott campaigns. You are not the first to do that, nor would you be the last. People who are sincerely very concerned about the fate of employees of companies targeted by boycotts should just do the right thing and pressure those companies to submit to the demands of the boycott campaigns, which in just about all cases are reasonable and humane, for instance, for those companies not to be complicit with an apartheid and genocidal regime such as the one in Israel. If they disagree with the objectives of the boycott, they should be honest and just say so, instead of trying to be disingenuous and claiming that employees’ welfare is the reason they believe a boycott is a bad idea.

We are glad to note that you accept that people have a right to express their views through boycotts. So, in case you are not already aware, we would like to point out that in your own country, the legislatures of 37 states have passed anti-boycott laws with little or no public debate. Those laws specifically ban boycotts which are directed against Israel. These are all accomplished at the behest of the Zionist lobby aided by a supine pro-Zionist media. As a believer in the right of the public to boycott, you ought to voice out your concern that the First Amendment rights of your fellow Americans are being eroded just to satisfy the demands of a foreign country, namely Israel.

There is no place in the 21st century for a settler-colonial apartheid regime, what more a genocidal one such as Israel. The US is being on the wrong side of history by openly supporting Israel through weapons supply and diplomatic cover. After seeing what is unfolding in Gaza and realising that much of it is enabled by the US government, only a person in need of psychiatric care would really believe that the US stands for democracy and human rights. The mask is truly off and the face behind it is ugly.

We feel sorry for you that you have to promote the interests of your nation in circumstances whereby it is widely and accurately perceived that the government you represent has no real objections to the massacre in Gaza of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, many of them children and women – as long as they are of the ‘wrong’ colour or religion. We say this bearing in mind the totally different reaction of the US to the war in Ukraine.

All is not lost, however. We respectfully urge you to use whatever influence you have to impress upon your government that it is time for the blind and unconditional support for Israel to end. Israel is not a strategic ally of the US in the Middle East. In the words of Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, “Israel is an albatross around the neck of US foreign policy”.

Humanity, history and international law are all on the side of the Palestinians. Only when the US, in recognition of the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians, uses its might and influence to compel Israel to abide with international law will it be seen to be an honest broker in the search for genuine peace and justice in the region. Only then will the American claim to be championing democracy and human rights not ring hollow.

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Malaysia (BDS Malaysia)

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