Abstract

In response to the latest escalation of the Israel-Hamas confrontation in Gaza that began with Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, the Anwar Ibrahim administration of Malaysia has taken a strong stand in support of the Palestinians, strongly criticising Israel’s military operation in Gaza, but not Hamas.

There is strong support for the Palestinian cause in Malaysia. In the past month, there have been several mass gatherings, sermons, and an anti-Israel boycott across Malaysia in support of Palestine.

This pro-Palestinian stance is a longstanding part of Malaysia’s foreign policy. It has helped the government project itself as a significant actor in Muslim affairs on the global stage and has reinforced the government’s Islamic credentials among Malay-Muslim constituents domestically.

This webinar will examine Malaysia’s policy towards Palestine from the 1980s till the present day. We will assess the contemporary issues regarding Malaysia’s relationship with Palestine, along with the domestic, regional, and international implications for Malaysia’s foreign policy. In particular, the webinar will address the following questions:

• What are the domestic and international factors undergirding Malaysia’s foreign policy on Palestine?
• How does Malaysia’s pro-Palestinian stance enhance or undermine its relations with its Asian neighbours and other key partners in the Middle East and the West?

This webinar will be conducted under the Chatham House Rule.

About the Speakers

Ilango Karuppannan is Adjunct Professor at Universiti Malaya. He was Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Singapore (2016 – 2017) and its Ambassador to Lebanon (2010 – 2014). He has held senior positions in the Malaysian foreign ministry and other Malaysian government departments. His academic research and writing are focused on Malaysia’s foreign policy towards the Middle East, small-states diplomacy and ASEAN.

Johan Saravanamuttu is Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He was previously professor of political science at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang where he served as Dean from 1994-1996, then Dean of the Research Platform on Social Transformation. Some of his recent publications include, “Power Sharing in a Divided Nation: Communalism and Politics in Six Decades of Malaysia’s Elections”, “Malaysia’s Foreign Policy, the First Fifty Years: Alignment, Neutralism”, and “Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia”.