KUALA LUMPUR – A concerned citizen has lodged a police report urging authorities to investigate a video of an individual advocating for diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Israel while characterising Malaysians as being deceived by Palestinian “misinformation”.
The report was lodged by Syed Muhammad Shafiq Syed Jaafar, 35, at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, here, today.
Syed Muhammad said the report was made against an individual known as Victor Yong Jen Ong, who claims to be Malaysian and was recently interviewed by Israeli-Jewish social media personality Hananya Naftali.
“My reason for making the police report (against Yong) is because he has made worrying comments calling for Malaysia to have diplomatic relations with Israel while attempting to normalise such ties,” Syed Muhammad told reporters after filing the report.
“I urge all Malaysians who are against such Zionist sentiments to lodge police reports of their own so that this issue is not swept under the carpet by authorities.”
He also accused Yong of touching on religious sentiments when the latter allegedly referenced Quranic interpretations to justify his call for an Israeli embassy to be established in Malaysia.
Also present was lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, who said that while Yong’s Malaysian citizenship remains unconfirmed, the video should be probed by the relevant authorities as it has made the rounds on social media.
“At a time when Palestinians are fighting for their independence while people around the world condemn Israel’s war crimes and genocide, how can such a video of a person claiming to be a Malaysian go viral online?” Rafique questioned.
Yesterday, Yong incited ire online after the clip of him with Naftali, reportedly an aide of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made the rounds on social media.
The interview clip, which was posted by Naftali on his X (formerly Twitter) account yesterday and labelled by some as a “desperate” bid to spread pro-Israel propaganda, can still be viewed on the social media platform as of press time.
In the video, Yong, who is said to be an author and the figure behind the blog “China Chooses Israel,” claimed that Malaysia’s animosity towards Israel is due to the spread of misinformation propagated by Arab “radicals”.
He also asserted that “professional terror operations” by Palestinian organisations Fatah and Hamas have instilled “hatred” against Israel among the people here.
“Even the children of Israel are mentioned in the Quran. The scriptures of Islam demand that love be extended to Israeli children, but radical Arab terrorism differs from that and has been trying to corrupt Malaysian intellect to turn Malays and Chinese against the Jewish nation,” he added.
Besides reasoning that an Israeli embassy here could “bring much culture to Malaysia concerning Jewish people (and) enlighten all of us to what the truth actually is,” Yong said that Malaysia and Israel could economically benefit “a lot” from each other.
While not much information about Yong is available online, a description of his 2020 novel Daughter of Palestine on Amazon described him as a “Malaysian and descendant of a six-hundred-year-old overseas Chinese community.”
For the record, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been outspoken in his condemnation of the carnage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s relentless air and ground attack.
During the Apec Economic Leaders’ Informal Dialogue and Working Lunch in the presence of US President Joe Biden and leaders from member economies last month, Anwar described the situation in Gaza as an “abandonment of moral responsibility”. – December 5, 2023