It started in Suez and is approaching Malacca. The pressure on global maritime trade nodes has become a little more acute this week. The push against Israel launched by the Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea has taken an unexpected turn, although more focused, in Malaysia. Its prime minister has announced that he will ban the entry of any Israeli-flagged cargo ships. Anwar Ibrahim has added an express veto for merchant ships of the tenth largest shipping company in the world, of Israeli nationality: “My Government withdraws authorization for Zim to dock in any Malaysian port.”
The measure, “with immediate effect,” has been justified by Anwar as a response “to the violation of fundamental humanitarian principles and international legality in Gaza” by Israel, whose army he blames “for massacres and atrocities against Palestinian civilians.” ”. Likewise, ships bound for Israel will be prohibited from loading merchandise in Malaysian ports.
Although Malaysia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, since 2002 it has allowed Israeli Zim ships to dock in its ports. Since 2005 they could also unload merchandise. But the dramatic situation in Palestine would have made the current prime minister change his mind.
The multinational Zim was founded by Jews in Palestine in 1945. Haifa is its port of reference and it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where it has dropped 43% this year. According to some standards, Zim is the tenth largest container shipping company in the world by traffic volume (2.1% of the world total). It operates in more than 80 countries.
“The humanitarian crisis is on its way to affecting not only Palestine or the rest of the Middle East, but it will mark global relations for many years,” Anwar warned a month ago in San Francisco. He was participating in the Asia-Pacific summit and did not bite his tongue when he spoke, during the lunch of heads of state and government, among whom were Joe Biden and Xi Jinping: “What is happening in Gaza, the way “that its mass destruction is tolerated is clearly an abandonment of moral responsibility.”
According to the Malaysian prime minister, his government has already received three requests from US diplomacy to classify Hamas as a “terrorist organization.” Something that, as he has said, he never intends to do. Then as now, the organization’s leaders are received with honors in Malaysia, although five years ago a Hamas member was shot dead in front of his home in Kuala Lumpur, allegedly by Mossad agents.
Malaysia is not alone in Asia, where much more populous Muslim-majority countries, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh or Pakistan, also do not recognize Israel. Only to Palestine. On Saturday, a British Amrey cargo ship carrying chemicals, Chem Pluto, was hit by an Iranian drone, according to US military sources. The cargo ship was traveling from India to Saudi Arabia. Iran declined to comment.
As a side effect, in this Muslim corner of Southeast Asia, the boycott of Israeli companies or those that allegedly support Israel in the current war has been reinforced. For example, the McDonald’s hamburger chain was crucified on Indonesian networks when it was revealed that it was giving away McMenús to Israeli soldiers. The boycott emptied its restaurants in the archipelago and forced the local franchise to give 50% discounts and to ensure its sympathy for “the resistance.”
