Anwar’s announcement to rebuild Gaza was reckless and dumb.
He gave away public funds to the tune of RM100 million to Palestine, but no one knows who actually got the money as banks were destroyed in Gaza during the war. He was globe throttling using taxpayers’ money to lobby the Arabs to stop Israel’s relentless assault, but he was bumped to the last row during a photo session with leaders of the OIC countries at the 8th OIC Emergency Summit Media Conference.
He met Hamas leaders in Qatar, but none of the Gulf states support the terrorist group. He bragged about his friendship with buddy Ismail Haniyeh, but the Hamas leader was soon assassinated in Tehran. He glorified Hamas, but its leader Yahya Sinwar was also horribly killed. He transported dozens of Palestinians to Malaysia from Egypt but was humiliated when they staged riots instead.
He condemned Israel’s brutality but shamelessly used the Jew-owned Facebook platform. He gloated on Instagram about his phone call with Hamas officials but was removed by Zuckerberg. He asked Mohammed bin Salman to be firm for justice to Palestine, but the Saudi Crown Prince told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he personally “doesn’t care” about the Palestinians.
He condemned Western hypocrisy but quickly congratulated pro-Israel Donald Trump’s re-election as US president. He even organized rallies and flew thousands of Palestinian flags but hypocritically went ballistic over a few Chinese flags during some local festivals. It appears that everything that Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim touched on Palestine turned to dust.
The best part is despite Anwar’s efforts to bolster his own Islamic credentials in the Middle East, he is still clueless that he was not appreciated because the entire Arab world despises Hamas. The Arabs knew something which PM Anwar and most ignorant Malays do not – Hamas would lose the war because Israel possessed ironclad support from the US, who in turn protects Saudi Arabia and its allies.
Now that he had bet the wrong horse and Hamas, as well as Hezbollah, have lost the war, the man who is still desperate for a win has revealed yet another idiotic plan – building a school, hospital and mosque in Gaza. The construction of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble and dust thanks to his Hamas terrorist brothers, is estimated to cost over US$1 trillion.
However, former International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, also known as the “Iron Lady” during the Mahathir administration (1981-2003), has lectured PM Anwar to prioritise domestic issues first before committing to rebuilding Gaza. Every Tom, Dick and Harry knew the hypocrite Anwar was trying to be the hero in the Muslim world, largely due to his Muslim Brotherhood link with Hamas.
Regardless of whether the incompetent prime minister plans to get the funding by abusing his power as finance minister, or arm-twisting the private sector to donate money, his priority has been misplaced. For example, Sabah, the poorest Malaysian state, is still facing power and water shortages, as well as poor road conditions which restrict access to education not to mention lack of affordable housing.
Perhaps someone should give the prime minister a few knocks on his head to remind him how 18-year-old Veveonah Mosibin, who lives in a village in remote Pitas district in the east Malaysian state of Sabah, had to trek up a hill and sleep on a tree just to get an Internet signal for an examination online. Has Anwar’s Madanistan government fixed the problem?
Likewise, nearly RM80 billion is needed for the development of basic infrastructure and facility upgrades across another Borneo state – Sarawak – including roads, clean water, electricity, clinics, hospitals, schools, science laboratories and telecommunication networks. Over 1,300 rural Sarawak settlements remain without road access as of the end of 2024.
PM Anwar should take care of his own backward first, and start rebuilding and repairing six hospitals, 208 health clinics, 67 staff quarters, and two pharmaceutical offices in Sarawak alone. At least 460 schools were in a deplorable state and needed urgent rehabilitation. Does the prime minister realize that more than 86,000 households are still without a clean water supply in the state?
With over 70,000 families struggling with hardcore poverty in Sabah alone, exactly why should Malaysia spend millions or billions of dollars rebuilding a foreign land some 8,000 kilometres away? Even if Anwar Ibrahim does not care about the Chinese, Indians or the indigenous people, he should at least take care of Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera first.
Unable to lose face after being lectured by Rafidah, the narcissist PM has hit back at critics questioning his plan to rebuild Gaza. “Where is your compassion?” – Anwar asked, the same way he previously used while defending his despicable role in giving a 50% discount to disgraced former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence.
The correct question should be where is Anwar’s compassion when he would rather see his own people in Malaysia suffer in poverty without proper homes and basic infrastructure in favour of Gazans as if he were the Prime Minister of Gaza. What type of leadership prioritizes foreigners instead of his own people, who had voted for him to lead Malaysia, not Gaza?
Even if the PM wanted to help rebuild Gaza, where does he plan to get the money from? If the country has so much money to help Gaza, why is there an urgent need to cut fuel subsidies, egg subsidies, chicken subsidies, education subsidies, rice subsidies, cooking oil subsidies while at the same time increase service tax, water bill, electricity tariff, assessment rate and whatnot?
Anwar, who rose to prominence as an Islamic student radical before becoming a protégé of autocratic Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and was later sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 over corruption and sodomy charges, should stop hallucinating that the re-construction of Gaza could start anytime soon. Hamas terrorists can never govern Gaza, and until that is established, it’s wishful thinking that rebuilding can begin.
In fact, US President Donald Trump has unveiled his plan for Gaza – “clean out” the whole strip by moving the Palestinians (now homeless after their elected Hamas regime attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and lost the war) to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan. Describing Gaza as a “demolition site”, Trump said – “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing”.
The president said the move “could be temporary” or “could be long-term”. The United Nations has previously estimated that 60% of structures across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and it could take decades to rebuild. The current fragile ceasefire, reached after a deal between Israel and Hamas, could easily break down and lead to the 15-month war resuming at a snap of a finger.
Already, Trump has resumed the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. While Arab critics could argue that Palestinians may not be allowed by Israel to return to land once removed, Washington and Israel could similarly argue that Palestinians must be relocated in order to eliminate the remaining Hamas terrorists masquerading as civilians in Gaza, as well as dismantling the tunnels for permanent security.
Interestingly, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have remained publicly silent on the Trump plan – suggesting that Trump has great leverage to bulldoze his idea after the defeat of Hezbollah and Hamas terror organizations, two of the most important proxies of the Iranian regime in the region. Trump has already weaponised foreign aid and tariffs to shape his foreign policy in the Middle East.
Obviously, Anwar’s announcement to rebuild Gaza was not only reckless and dumb, but it also shows his glaring lack of geopolitical knowledge in the Middle East. His half-baked plan, which was hatched with the silly intention of being the first Muslim leader to beat the crowd to the stage to win a prize, has made him look like a Muslim fool instead. The ceasefire is just temporary, mind you.
Publicity seeker Anwar should realize that the Israel-Hamas war will never end even after Hamas terrorists are out of power. Before he commits any more of the people’s money – either publicly or privately sourced – into this bottomless pit, he should clarify and explain what happened to the RM100 million he had blindly given to his terrorist brothers. – Finance Twitter