If Utusan fears Jews and Israel, it should tell Najib to resign over APCO

If Utusan Malaysia is really so afraid of Jews and Israel, then the first person it should ask to resign is Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Najib, who is also the UMNO president, has refused to acknowledge the offers of evidence from the opposition that his hand-picked APCO was linked to hardline Zionist groups and were even former members of the Israeli Secret Service. New-York based APCO is one of Najib's chief strategy advisers and he has insisted on letting them churn his propaganda, as well as gain access to the country's confidential communications systems.

"Pakatan Rakyat is not against Jews. We have never preached any form of bigotry against Jews unlike Mahathir Mohamad, Utusan and by extension Najib Razak. From day one, we opposed APCO because of its Zionists links as related to the Palestinian state and nothing to do with Jews and Jewishness,"," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"What Utusan has now done is to add Jews to its hate list which already includes the Chinese and the Indians. It is a completely racial view and deplorable and we condemn them."

Shielding the cousins

In its Monday editorial, the UMNO-owned Utusan had continued to lambast the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections. But whether intentional or not, the Jew and Israel bogeymen it chose to use rekindled memories of former premier Mahathir Mohamad. The former PM who governed Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 had often used the association to Jews to tarnish his Muslim rivals in the country, especially Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

But today, it was apparent that Utusan was trying to find excuses for Najib.

“When the drums in the name of basic human rights becomes louder, it gives an opportunity to pro-Jewish groups to interfere in any Muslim country,” said Utusan.

“We may not be aware that supporting an action, including demonstrations, can trap us in the mission of foreign parties who are trying to control the country. The same with the illegal Bersih gathering, it is not free from getting foreign aid where thousands of ringgit was channelled into their account.”

As it had based a previous article regarding a 'Christian-state' on the unverified postings by UMNO bloggers, Utusan's latest editorial used as its basis the comments made by former police chief Rahim Noor. The retired IGP had warned of 'powers' wishing to topple any Muslim nation that did not support the Jewish agenda.

But Rahim's credibility is still highly suspect. He is the notoriuos IGP who beat up Anwar and gave him a black eye during the late 1990s when Mahathir had pressed trumped-up sodomy charges against Anwar.

Utusan also accused Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenivasan as being anti-Islam, reiterating that her movement was funded by Christian groups such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from Germany and the Canadian Allied Foundation. Ambiga and the Bersih committee have denied the accusations and laid bare their funding sources. Subsequently, it also turned out that one of the so-called Christian funds mentioned by Utusan was a major sponsor for a think-tank linked to Najib.

The real bad hats

In the run up to the July 9 march, Najib had also made bizarre dceisions including detaining 6 PSM members on suspicion of being part of a Communist plot to overthrow his government. Till now, the 6 men remain remanded without trial under an archaic Emergency law. On the march day, the police also launched another crackdown, arresting over 1,600 people. Tear gas and chemicalized water were fired indiscriminately into the crowds, injuring thousands and killing one.

The UN and Washington have slammed Najib for deliberately creating an environment of "fear and repression". The British Queen snubbed him by wearing the Bersih yellow at an audience granted in Buckingham Palace late last week.

Not surprisingly then, Najib is trying hard to find a scapegoat for the mess.

Within UMNO, Najib and his cousin Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein have been blamed the most for this fiasco. The cousins are seen to be trying hard to consolidate their power and prevent an ouster by factions led by former premier Mahathir Mohahamd and other right-wing groups.

"It is fairly chaotic in UMNO, they are quite shocked, especially after the Queen's snub. That was really something. But at the moment, the least popular leaders are the cousins, that's for sure. However, it is too soon to draw battle-lines yet and this is why Najib and Hisham are trying to deflect the blame as much as they can. But this time, it is fairly clear who are the real bad hats," an UMNO watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.

- Malaysia Chronicle