Inviting Trump Is A Dreadful Recipe

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It is a given that Malaysia has long positioned itself as a vociferous advocate of Palestinian rights, condemning Israel’s barbarity and savagery against Palestinians, including women and children.
As Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has repeatedly denounced Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, it seems that Malaysia’s policy on Israel vis-à-vis the protection of basic human rights of Palestinians will never change.
Despite being a small nation, Malaysia is invariably seen to be ready and willing to take a firm moral stance on Israeli brutality. And that is absolutely admirable.
In fact, at the recent Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit held in Doha, Anwar not only harshly condemned the recent illegal Israeli airstrike in Doha, but he also highlighted the ongoing humanitarian plight and suffering in Gaza.
Under such circumstances, Anwar’s readiness to invite US President Donald Trump to attend the 47th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur in late October is rather startling.
To many of his admirers, such a perplexing decision is, without any iota of doubt, a pain in the neck.
And lo and behold, it doesn’t stop there. Both Anwar and Trump are also expected to witness the signing of a reciprocal trade agreement between the two countries during the aforesaid Asean Summit.
Huge risk but what for?
It is common knowledge that Trump is a staunch ally of Israel, especially the Netanyahu government.
Like it or not, Trump is also a key enabler of Israeli prima facie genocide in Gaza, thus his presence in the upcoming Asean Summit will definitely raise serious questions about the bona fides of Malaysia’s stand with Palestine.
To rub salt in the wound, Trump is officially invited by none other than Anwar himself, the perceived fighter for the rights of Palestinians.
Many political analysts are of the view that Anwar is taking a huge risk of being called a hypocritical leader should he stubbornly stick to such a myopic decision.
Worse, it seems to be a glaring error of judgment by Anwar, viewed from whichever perspective.
Perhaps it is not too late for Anwar to reconsider his decision. Inviting Trump may probably yield a myriad of economic benefits to Malaysia, but unfortunately, the political fallout of inviting Trump seems to trump its economic rewards. - Mkini
MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy minister of law
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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