KUALA LUMPUR – Tensions flared at a high-profile event hosted by the United States embassy in a 5-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur as members of the pressure group Gegar America staged a bold protest denouncing American support for Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
The incident occurred during a gathering at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, where the US embassy was hosting an Independence Day dinner.
Video footage circulating on social media captured the moment when protesters from Gegar America disrupted the proceedings.
The group, which describes itself as a youth movement opposed to imperialism and Zionism, aimed to highlight American complicity in the plight of Palestinians.
In the footage, a protester, wearing a medical mask and wielding a small loudhailer, ascended the hotel’s spiral staircase, addressing attendees with passionate accusations.
“You are all complicit in the murder of thousands of Palestinian children,” the protester shouted.
Accompanied by fellow demonstrators holding a banner with the word “Genocide”, the protester’s message echoed through the venue before security personnel intervened, escorting him away from the scene.
“No business as usual. Gegar disrupted the US national Independence Day dinner at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Suria KLCC.”
“While millions in Gaza are starving, the government is wining and dining with the genociders dropping bombs on Gaza,” it said in a caption of the video shared on Instagram
“No business as usual as long as the US continues to support the genocidal state of Israel.”
It remains unclear whether the security personnel were hotel employees or affiliated with law enforcement, although at least one of them appeared to be wearing an auxiliary police uniform.
The protest coincided with reports from Gaza, where emergency teams recovered bodies following a recent incursion by the Israeli military.
Anadolu Agency reported that the Israeli military withdrew from the city, but Palestinians attempting to return to their homes were targeted, leading to multiple casualties. Emergency teams were able to access the areas previously occupied by the Israeli military and recover the bodies.
The military also demolished numerous homes and razed several residential and agricultural zones.
Since Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza on October 7, 2023, more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed – most of them women and children – and vast tracts of the territory lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6. – June 10, 2024