AUGUST 30 — When artist Mun Kao included a “blame the Jews” card in his delightful card game Politiko, I wonder whether he had any idea how often the card actually gets played in actual politics.
Especially when other cards in the same category are “cash giveouts” and “phantom voters”, you have to admit that playing the “blame the Jews” card can be construed as a final act of desperation.
(In case you haven’t figured it out, Politiko is a satirical card game that takes the piss out of Malaysian politics.)
Yet, it was the exact card played by Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi, who claimed last week that the RM2.6 billion for Prime Minister Najib Razak was made by the still unnamed Middle East donors to help Umno fight off DAP, which he claimed was backed by the Jews.
Labelling the DAP as a threat to Islam in the country, Aziz pointed out that Najib’s purported reputation as a notable Muslim leader in the region had initiated the donation.
“If we had lost in the elections, Jewish-backed DAP would have been in power... Fellow Muslim leaders recognised the DAP threat.
“If Malaysia’s Muslim government fell, the world’s Islamic struggle will crumble,” Aziz said, as quoted by a news portal.
The allegation was just one among the many explanations of how the donation came about. Just as many also insisted that their version was the correct one, despite some conflicting with each other.
Backing our prime minister’s reputation as a tour de force in the Islamic world was another claim by Kuantan Umno division chief Wan Adnan Wan Mamat, who said that the donation was a sign of appreciation for Malaysia’s role in combatting the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
Of course, when he made the remark to his division, he had conveniently left out the fact that back then when the money was transferred prior to the 13th general elections, IS was not even on Malaysia’s radar.
In fact, it was not until February 2014 that IS, back then known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, broke away from al-Qaeda.
What is it about the Jews that they get blamed for so many things in this country? The way accusations are flying about, I would expect Jews worldwide to be taught about Malaysia and its Muslims, and how to ruin their lives, as early as in kindergarten.
Back in March this year, a leader from the Pasir Puteh chapter of Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) had blamed Jews for orchestrating a rejection of the hudud penal code by what he called infidels.
The same group had also claimed in October last year that the Jews — and Christian — capitalists will intervene in national policies if the controversial Sedition Act is abolished.
It was only roughly a year ago that I wrote about some Malaysians’ sick adulation of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, and their unconditional hatred for the Jews.
A Friday sermon I heard this week demonising Jews (yet again) was a stark reminder that nothing much has changed, we are still being colonialised by a force far greater and scarier than the Jews: global anti-Semitism.
As we approach Merdeka Day, oops, I mean National Day, laden with socio-political and economic anxieties, it is inevitable that the Jewish bogeyman will rear its head again.
With the Bersih 4 rally already in full steam, detractors of its organisers Bersih 2.0 and its former co-chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan have resurrected their claim that the group is funded by controversial US-based organisation National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Among the allegations was that NED is a pro-Israel group bent on bringing regime change through undemocratic means in our Muslim-majority country.
Which would be astounding, if only the claims were true.
Speaking at a forum earlier this month, Ambiga explained that Bersih 2.0 is almost fully-funded by the public and had only once received funding from Washington-based group International Republican Institute for projects on redelineation and electoral boundaries.
Critics of electoral reform and good governance in Malaysia know as much, that these accusations need not even be true, for the anti-Jew sentiment has a lot of traction with sections of the Malay community.
Tarring someone as pro-Jew or backed by Jews, whether they are DAP or Bersih 2.0, is an almost surefire way to rile up the majority ethnic group with irrational hatred and zealous fear against something.
The campaign might work in keeping the Malays, especially the rural ones, docile.
A recent survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center pointed at a racial and class divide among Bersih 4’s supporters and opposers.
At 81 per cent, an overwhelming section of the ethnic Chinese polled supported Bersih 4, compared to 70 per cent of Malays who opposed the rally.
While 51 per cent of urban respondents supported Bersih 4, 57 per cent of those in rural areas opposed it.
A section of the Malays, at 4 per cent, had opposed the rally merely because they were afraid that the Malays would end up marginalised should the government be toppled. Now, who would want to help the Jews topple a celebrated Muslim leader and install a proxy instead, right?
What will it take for us to break free from this anti-Semitism? Considering how the fear and hatred have a ethno-religious slant to it, cutting down Islam’s domination in national governance and policymaking would be one way.
But an easier start would just take every one of us to cast the Jew bogeyman aside, and lit by reason, cut through the shroud that is blinding us towards fighting for our rights.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
