US-based academic Gilley a 'mediocre scholar', PM says

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim criticised US academic Bruce Gilley for his pro-Israel remarks and called him a “mediocre scholar”.

“A mediocre scholar who should not have been brought as a visiting professor in the first place,” he said.

Anwar said this to reporters when asked at the groundbreaking ceremony of the MAB Academy flight simulator this afternoon.

He was commenting on the Portland State University’s political science professor’s accusation against local politicians of advocating for a “second Holocaust against the Jews” during a speech at Universiti Malaya on April 23.

Gilley added that 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.”

Bruce Gilley

He made the remarks during his keynote address at a lecture titled “Will Malaysia become an active middle power?”.

Gilley cited a remark made by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu at a rally in October last year that “Israel will soon disappear” as an example of an anti-Jew remark.

This contrasts with Malaysia’s official position on resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, which calls for Israel and Palestine to coexist peacefully based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Following the uproar over Gilley’s comments, Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir cancelled all programmes and activities involving Gilley and ordered a probe.

“I have also instructed UM to probe the matter and provide the ministry with details,” he was reported as saying.

UM has since apologised for the incident, pledging to improve its procedures and guidelines in vetting individuals it works with in the future.

Former education minister Maszlee Malik noted that Gilley was a “visiting professor” at the university, adding someone from UM should be held responsible.

Gilley had since left Malaysia, saying: “I have safely departed from Malaysia, one step ahead of the Islamo-fascist mob whipped up by the government there. This is not a safe country to travel to now. Updates to follow.” - Mkini