JOHOR BAHRU (Aug 17): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday expressed disappointment and sadness over the backlash from some parties against the government’s move to bring injured Palestinians from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Malaysia.

He said some even went to extremes in criticising the noble effort, when it was a small act of compassion and kindness towards the Palestinian people who had been suffering and enduring Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza.

What's worse, Anwar said, was that some also asked him to go and become the prime minister of Palestine.

“Israel shoots, bombs, destroys houses, kills babies and women. Many Palestinians were injured, men were jailed, women were raped, and when we brought those injured here [for medical treatment], some people started to criticise, saying I shouldn’t be the prime minister of Malaysia, telling me to go be the prime minister of Palestine if I really wanted to help.”

Anwar said this when officiating the closing of the Southern Zone Madani Rakyat programme at Dataran UTM, Skudai, on Saturday.

The prime minister said this is not the first time the Malaysian government decided to help people from other conflict-stricken countries.

“There were many others who came before them (the Palestinians). Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya and Achenese refugees had also come here...we provided protection to them until the tension in their countries subsided,” he said.

The prime minister said he found it absurd when some civil servants also fell for the criticisms, rather than being proud and congratulating the government and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) for the effort.

“I hope they can open their mind a little bit, because we are the first country in Asia that brings in the injured Palestinians for treatment. How is this possible? Because our Cabinet, our leaders in the unity government agreed to take the common responsibility to do this,” he said.

On Friday, two RMAF Airbus A-400M aircraft carrying 41 injured Palestinians and 86 family members landed safely at the Subang Air Base in Selangor at around 2pm, after taking off from the Al Maza Air Force Base in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday night. 

All the injured Palestinians will be treated at the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, while the uninjured relatives will be housed in a transit location provided by the Ministry of Defence.

On the criticism of the government's move to use RMAF aircraft in the operation instead of commercial flights, the prime minister said it was done due to security risks, especially involving areas on the Egyptian border.

“We took them (Palestinians) at the [Egyption] border, so we had to negotiate with the Egyptian government. The condition is that we must use the Air Force, and must have proper equipment. 

“The aircraft might get shot by an Israeli missile. Everyone on the plane knew that risk,” he said.

Anwar said the permission to bring the Palestinians to Malaysia was also made possible due to the close relationship between Malaysia and Egypt, as well as several other Middle Eastern countries.

“I called the president of Egypt, asking for their cooperation, because it is impossible for us to bring them here if there is no cooperation with Egypt. So, it is good that we have good relations with Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, because that made it possible for us to carry out this mission,” he said.

At the same time, the prime minister also reminded all Malaysians to always be grateful for the blessing of peace and the ability to help others, especially the Palestinians who are suffering from the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime.

“This is the least we can do. Let’s be grateful to Allah that we still have a sense of kindness, compassion, and ability to help lighten the burden of others. We are just helping 40, 50 injured Palestinians...what is this compared to 40,000 others who have been violently killed by Israel in Gaza?” Anwar added.

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