Government supporters and Pakatan Harapan's (PH) cybertroopers have scrambled to defend Anwar Ibrahim in recent days after he was heavily criticised by a prominent UK-based Muslim journalist and Middle East expert who questioned the prime minister over a friendly meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Sami Hamdi had criticised Anwar for not taking the opportunity to snub Blinken during the recent Asean Summit in Laos to protest the latter's vehement pro-Zionist stance since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

"Oh Anwar... You should have refused to meet Blinken as he butchers the Muslims of Palestine and Lebanon," said Hamdi, a global risk analyst who advises governments on Middle East geopolitics.

"You could have sent a lower-level official instead to discuss the matter of semi-conductors," he said, referring to Anwar's statement during the meeting in which he welcomed investment from US technology giants.

At the meeting, Anwar said he also expressed appreciation for Washington's "leading role in UN Security Council Resolution 2735", which calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamdi's remarks sparked angry reactions from government supporters, with many X accounts, often used by PH cybertroopers, raging against him.

"Go f*** with your Palestine or Lebanon, we Malaysians stand with our leader," posted Raja Mohd Shahrim who runs an X account called "BuletinRMS".

Another X user 229th Tactical Fighter Squadron wrote: "Middle east goatf***er trying to dictate what our country can do and cannot do. Bitch please take care of your of goddamn country first dipsh*t."

"Go s**t on ur own Arab leaders," said another post from a pro-government account, StratCommMADANI.

There was more vitriol from Artemis P: "Go f*** yourself... who are you to tell our PMX what to do? Are you a Malaysian!"

Many took pains to justify Anwar's friendly overtures to Blinken, who is among the Biden administration's staunchest supporters of Israel and its lethal bombing campaign on Gaza, which has so far killed more than 40,000 Palestinian civilians.

"Don't put your agenda on our prime minister. Be grateful and stop spreading hates. He is on national responsibility and he doesn't owe you and your agenda anything," said Joshua Chuah.

Kent, meanwhile, wrote in a possibly sarcastic tone: "He’s using Sun Tzu art of war strategy."

The reactions are reminiscent of the way a Malaysian-based Palestinian activist was condemned by PH supporters a few days after the Oct 7 attacks last year for suggesting that Anwar's response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza was weaker compared to the three prime ministers before him.

"Until now, one week after the Israeli attack, the response is not what Malaysia is capable of doing," Muslim Imran, a member of Hamas' international bureau who has lived in Malaysia for more than two decades, told the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

Imran later clarified that his words had been politicised.

"I have never meant or intended to belittle the great work of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim or his government," he said following the hate messages against him.

'Chameleon'

Meanwhile, hundreds of comments agreed with Hamdi, many of which called Anwar double-faced in the Palestinian issue.

"Anwar only a puppet. He can change colour like chameleon," said Satoshi Nakamoto on X.

"Trust me, he's a hypocrite leader," wrote Kamarul Afiq.

"We Malaysians are against the genocide. We actively boycott. And nahhh, I didnt vote him to be PM. What a shame. He looked so happy with Blinken huh?" said fanna.mzf on Instagram.

Another X user, connerylazenby described Anwar's support for Palestine as "performative" and shared a screenshot of a news report of pro-Palestinian activists in Malaysia being arrested for taking part in anti-Israel protests.

Instagram user hmsag1924 quoted from the biography of Dr Mahathir Mohamad: "As Tun Dr Mahathir said in his book A Doctor in the House on page 409: 'He (Anwar Ibrahim) appeared to be all things to all people'."

The latest criticism of Anwar comes at a time when his government continues to refuse to back down from its controversial decision to sell shares in a state-owned company that manages airports across the country to a firm owned by US fund manager BlackRock.

Under the deal, BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners will take a 30% stake in a consortium to manage Malaysia Airports, alongside the government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), both entities under the jurisdiction of the finance ministry led by Anwar.

Anwar has sidestepped the main criticism of the deal - the accusation of BlackRock's complicity in genocide due to its role in boosting Israeli economically and militarily.

Instead, he said the government could not cut ties with companies for having relations with Israel.

The stance is similar to the one he took in early May when pro-Palestinian groups protested against the participation of defence companies supplywing weapons to Israel at a defence exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar had said at the time that this was not a problem as long as the companies were not registered in Israel.

The BlackRock issue has emerged as one of Anwar's greatest challenges since his appointment to the top post, and comes against a backdrop of claims that he is more friendly with the US and Israel, with critics citing past statements including his interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2012 which quoted him as saying that he would "support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel".

https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2024/10/19/go-f-with-your-palestine-government-supporters-cytros-berate-prominent-journalist-for-criticising-anwar