KUALA LUMPUR – Calling Malaysia anti-Semitic and taking potshots at former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, influential news organisation the Jerusalem Post ran an editorial on the recent decision to bar Israeli athletes from contesting in the Men’s World Team Squash Championships hosted here.
Calling for world sports bodies to disqualify host countries that ban athletes, the November 30 article said while it is acceptable for countries to have disputes, sports is viewed as above politics.
However, it said this philosophy is not shared by Malaysia “which plays according to its own anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rules”.
“A simple guideline should be applied across the world of sports: countries that ban Israeli players from participating should be prevented from hosting any sporting event,” it said, adding that the tournament scheduled for December 7 was cancelled after the Squash Racquet Association of Malaysia informed the World Squash Federation that it could not confirm that visas would be issued to Israeli athletes.
The tournament was moved to Malaysia from New Zealand due to coronavirus fears in the latter.
The Israel Squash Association even offered to host the tournament and accept Malaysian competitors.
“Israel has never treated regimes hostile to it, like Malaysia, the way those countries treat Israel.
“This whole controversy could have been avoided if the organisers would have known in the first place that the decision to move the tournament to Malaysia was problematic,” the editorial added, categorising Malaysia as an “extremist regime” alongside Iran and Pakistan.
The same editorial, which was accompanied by a picture of the Jalur Gemilang also went after former prime minister Dr Mahathir, referring to his 2003 speech at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, where he claimed Jews “rule the world by proxy”.
“Countries like Malaysia not only ban Israeli athletes, but they also push anti-Semitism globally through support for people like Mahathir,” the editorial added.
Malaysia has never had diplomatic ties with Israel ever since the former’s independence in response to its occupation of Palestine and the oppression of the Palestinian people.
Founded in 1932, the Jerusalem Post supports the Palestinian occupation and is deemed an Israeli government mouthpiece.
It claims that its online edition Jpost.com is the No.1 English-language website covering Israel and the Jewish World with between eight and 10 million unique monthly visitors and a million page views a day. – The Vibes, December 5, 2021
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