‘End Oppression of Palestinians’ First: Malaysia Refuses Entry Visas to Israeli Athletes

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. (Photo: File)

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that there is “no place for Israeli athletes in Malaysia,” refusing to issue entry visas for the Israeli swimming team.

Mohamad stressed on Thursday that his country would not issue entry visas to Israeli athletes scheduled to participate in the World Paralympic Swimming Championship 2019 this summer, Shehab reported.

The prime minister also stressed that, if in response to his stance the organizers decided to cancel the event, “they can do so”.

The Israeli Olympic Committee has put pressure on Malaysia to issue visas for its members, but Malaysia has refused to do so. It also put pressure on the event’s organizers to obtain the visas but to no avail.

Deputy Malaysian Sports Minister, Sim Hee Kyung, said on Wednesday that his country would not allow the Israeli athletes to enter the country, citing the “clear” Malaysian policy regarding dealings with Israel. The minister stressed that:

“The government will maintain its steadfast position regarding this issue as a means to protest against the continuous Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people.”

For over 50 years, Malaysia has rejected normalizing ties with Israel due to huge popular support for Palestine among the Malaysian population.

( MEMO, PC, Social Media)

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2 Comments

  1. If it was done to a muslim athlete or athletes, they would have cried discrimination! Funny how people set double standards..

  2. aaa you are 100% right, but the musllims wouldn’t get very far with their crying out, e.g. the banning of the face veil in France and Sweden? and the millions of people and the banning of headscarves (I mean come on you are allowed to wear a thong in public so your young kids literally get to see somebodies backside and if close enough, the middle of their private parts which I think is v inappropriate for kids to see, and you can wear a
    trilby hat (like Winston Churchill used to wear?) but you cant wear a cloth round your head in chinese universities? that is crazy as its actually fashion in the US/Spain/Italy amongst lots of other places, it’s just provoking worldwide trouble really

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