Kuala Lumpur
- Malaysia has maintained its position on the entry of Israeli athletes to its territory to participate in international tournaments, despite the cancellation of the International Squash Federation, which was scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur from December 7 to 12.
And the Malaysian government advisor, Abdul Razzaq Ahmed, said - in a special statement to Al Jazeera Net - that the refusal to grant entry visas to the Israeli squash team is a sovereign issue for Malaysia, and is consistent with its firm position in supporting the rights of the Palestinian people, rejecting the occupation of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and consistent with the feelings of the Malaysian people in solidarity with The issue of the Palestinian people, and Malaysia's principled positions in rejecting apartheid.
Malaysia - located in Southeast Asia - has previously prevented Israeli athletes from entering it, and it does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Ahmed recalled similar historical Malaysian positions, such as the boycott of the former apartheid regime in South Africa and the refusal to receive its sports teams.
The spokesman ruled out that Malaysia's refusal to normalize with the occupying country would lead to isolating his country, in light of Western support for normalization projects.
He said that Malaysia is a civilized country that enjoys a solid international network of relations in various aspects, and that it does not need to establish relations with an entity based on the oppression and persecution of another people, and which continues its inhumane practices.
He called on the countries that are trying to market the occupying state to do justice to the Palestinian people and enable them to recover their legitimate rights first.
Malaysia lost hosting the International Squash Championship this year for refusing to grant entry visas to Israeli players (Getty Images)
The International Squash Federation had announced the cancellation of the tournament for this year, after the Malaysian authorities refused to grant entry visas to the Israeli players participating in the tournament, and it was not possible to transfer the matches to New Zealand due to measures to besiege the mutating Corona virus, and a statement by the International Squash Federation and the Malaysian Squash Association said that the World Olympic Committee and the Malaysian Olympic Council failed. Persuading the Malaysian authorities to grant visas to all players, including the Israelis.
For his part, Professor Muhammad Effendi Saleh - an activist in the field of global humanitarian work - praised what he described as the Malaysian government's adherence to supporting the principles of justice and freedom in the world, and said that sport is not an exception to the principles of justice, and added in press statements, "We should not play sport with killers."
While answering journalists' questions, Effendi said, "Our dignity and solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people for more than 6 decades is much more important than losing an opportunity to hold a sports tournament."
The human rights activist listed previous Malaysian positions for refusing to engage in sports with countries he described as "aggressors", including major countries, and said that Malaysia did not participate in the Olympic Games held in Russia in 1980 in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and lost the opportunity to host the Paralympic Games in 2019 because of its refusal Reception of Israeli athletes.
The Palestinian cause enjoys wide support in Malaysia, where Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of the population and it is forbidden to enter the country with an Israeli passport.