PARLIAMENT | Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the focus should be on the support for the people of Palestine instead of whether participants at a rally were allowed to chant the “takbir”.
He stressed that the core issue was to be in solidarity with Palestine which is under siege.
“The core issue is that the lives of two million people are at stake. The main issue is removing the people from Gaza which is currently being coordinated by the prime minister (Anwar Ibrahim) for Asean,” he said in Dewan Rakyat during question time today.
Saifuddin was responding to Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Perikatan Nasional-Machang) who questioned if chanting the “takbir” was prevented at rallies.
“How one organises one’s rally is up to one’s own discretion. Machang, you can organise a rally tomorrow and takbir.
“If I have the time, I will join in and takbir as loud as possible too,” Saifuddin added.
VPM under fire
Viva Palestina Malaysia, the organiser of the rally on Sunday, came under heavy criticism for allegedly disallowing demonstrators from chanting the takbir.
VPM chairperson Dr Musa Mohd Nordin earlier said although there was no ban on chanting the ‘takbir’, participants were told not to isolate non-Muslims.
He also labelled attendees who insisted on chanting the takbir as “conservative” and “extremists”.
“I did not make any mention of stopping takbir chants, but the ground rules (of the rally) were very clear from the start. They think they can express their Islamism, but VPM is respectful of other religious groups,” he was quoted as saying.
In a later statement, Musa said PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Ikram president Badlishah Sham Baharin had said the takbir during their speeches at the event, as did many demonstrators in the crowd.
Musa also denied labelling an individual - who tried to hold up a placard calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘devil’ - a Zionist.
He said he merely told the person they should not stoop to the “hate discourse of the Zionists”.
He further justified this by saying that police had instructed VPM to act swiftly against hate speech.
Saifuddin maintained that the actions of the organisers at last Sunday's rally did not reflect the government's views.
"(On) the question of whether or not to criticise Netanyahu, our position is also clear: we recognise the struggle of the Palestinian people and we ourselves have withdrawn our support (to Netanyahu).
"But if there is a gathering attended by 300 or 400 people initiated by an organisation and then if it imposes any restrictions, 'dos and don'ts', that should be seen in the context of what happened at that time.
"It does not reflect the full stance of the government and Muslims who love peace and reconciliation," he said.
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