By Nur Atiq Maisarah Suhaimi
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Veteran British politician George Galloway has described Malaysia’s support for the Palestinian people as standing out among Muslim nations while highlighting the country’s consistent commitment to the cause.
“Most countries in this world are not like Malaysia, (which is) dedicated to this question,” he said during a public lecture at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) here on Monday.
Speaking on the topic ‘Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors’, Galloway, known for his pro-Palestine stance, noted that there was a disparity in the global solidarity movement for Palestine.
The former Member of Parliament observed that public activism such as boycotts and mass demonstrations was currently more prevalent in Western countries.
However, he contended that the responsibility to liberate the Palestinian people ultimately lay with the Palestinians themselves, as well as Arabs and Muslims globally.
“Palestine will not be liberated from the West,” he said.
“Palestine can only be liberated by the Palestinians, the Arabs, and the Muslims themselves. The duty, the wajib, lies in Malaysia and Muslim countries,” he added.
The lecture was jointly organised by IAIS, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Malaysia, the Palestine Centre for Excellence, Universiti Malaya’s Hashim Sani Centre for Palestine Studies (HSCPS) and IKRAM Malaysia.
Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan announced in 2025, Galloway dismissed the initiative as "dead on arrival,” arguing that it lacks the substance to bring about genuine peace.
“It's dead already. It died the moment it was written. There is no peace plan,” he told reporters after the lecture.
“There is only the intention of Israel to continue to subjugate the Palestinians and keep their land and the struggle is to turn the rest of the world against this,” he added.
Galloway said true peace in the Holy Land would only be achieved when the rights of the Palestinian people are accepted, recognised and implemented through "deeds, not just words”.
Trump’s plan aimed to implement a ceasefire, end the war and oversee a redevelopment of ‘New Gaza’, among other objectives. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out attacks, with the death toll reportedly exceeding 71,000 people since Oct 2023.
Galloway also criticised Israel's recognition of "Somaliland" as part of what he termed the “Greater Israel Project”, condemning it as a tool to further destabilise international peace and security especially in the African continent.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has since operated as a de facto self-governing entity, but has yet to gain broad international recognition. Israel recently became the first United Nations member state to formally recognise it as an independent state, drawing condemnation from countries worldwide.
-- BERNAMA
