US academic regrets harm caused by ‘second Holocaust’ post

 

Bruce Gilley, a professor of political science at Portland State University, came under fire after delivering a talk titled ‘Will Malaysia Become an Active Middle Power’ at Universiti Malaya on Tuesday afternoon. (X pic)

PETALING JAYA: A US academic has expressed regret for the harm caused by a post related to a talk he delivered at Universiti Malaya (UM), where he purportedly claimed that Malaysia was pushing for a “second Holocaust against the Jewish people”.

Bruce Gilley, a political science professor at Portland State University, said he had deleted the post containing the quote from his keynote address at the talk for the safety and well-being of his colleagues at UM.

“The quote from my keynote address reflects my views alone. I regret the harm I have caused to my academic colleagues,” he said in a post on X.

In his talk titled “Will Malaysia Become an Active Middle Power” at UM on Tuesday afternoon, Gilley was also said to have played down Malaysia’s ties with the US.

“‘A country whose political leaders advocate a second Holocaust against the Jewish people will never be a serious player in world affairs, and will certainly never be a friend or partner of the US,’ from my keynote address yesterday in KL on Malaysian foreign policy,” he wrote in his post on X yesterday.

“This has been a long-standing vice of Malaysian politicians going back to (former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s) advice to learn from the Germans on how to kill Jews.

“Most explicitly, in October, agriculture (and food security) minister Mohamad Sabu promised a rally that ‘Israel will soon disappear’,” he added.

Following Gilley’s statements, higher education minister Zambry Abd Kadir ordered the immediate cancellation of all programmes and activities involving the academic.

“I have asked UM to investigate the matter and report all further details,” Zambry said in a statement yesterday.

Gilley had been scheduled to give three talks at UM as a visiting professor.

Malaysia has no diplomatic ties with Israel and has repeatedly condemned the country for its numerous attacks on Palestine, including the current war in Gaza which has seen more than 34,000 Palestinians killed and 77,000 wounded since Oct 7 last year. - FMT