PRESS STATEMENT FROM BDS MALAYSIA
21 April 2018
ROYAL MALAYSIAN NAVY (RMN) MUST WITHDRAW FROM THE RIMPAC 2018 NAVAL EXERCISE
BDS Malaysia notes from a New Straits Times report dated April 19, 2018 that the RMN will take part in the US-conducted Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac 2018) naval exercise due to take place in July this year.
(https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/04/359262/malaysian-warship-take-part-rim-pacific-exercise-first-time-honolulu)
BDS Malaysia also notes a report dated April 12, 2018 on a website called Israel Defense that the Israeli navy will be participating in the very same naval exercise. (http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/33811)
If what is reported on the website is correct, BDS Malaysia unequivocally calls on the Malaysian caretaker government to withdraw the RMN from Rimpac 2018.
The Israeli military this month alone has cold-bloodedly killed more than 40 and wounded more than four thousand unarmed Palestinian civilians who were participating in the peaceful Great Return March demonstrations near the Gaza border, all by the use of snipers firing dum-dum bullets. These are obvious crimes according to international law.
The Malaysian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, we are happy to note, has repeatedly expressed its commitment to the just and noble Palestinian cause.
That being the case, for the RMN to take part in a naval exercise in which the criminal Israeli military is also present would be to blatantly contradict the Prime Minister’s oft-stated commitment to Palestine.
The planned RMN participation in Rimpac 2018 will send the message to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, countless many of whom have had family members and relatives killed and maimed by the terrorist actions of the Zionist military, that the Malaysian government’s commitment to the Palestinian cause exists only in words but not in any real meaningful action.
BDS Malaysia therefore unequivocally calls on the Malaysian government to truly demonstrate its commitment to the Palestinian struggle and withdraw the RMN from Rimpac 2018 to send a message to the Zionists and the global community at large that Malaysia’s efforts to isolate the pariah Apartheid state of Israel in every sphere of international activity, be it diplomatic, economic, military, cultural or academic are ongoing and unwavering.
Prof. Mohd Nazari Ismail
Chairman
BDS Malaysia