Utusan Malaysia, a newspaper owned by Malaysia’s ruling party UMNO, has come up with a (not so) novel ‘theory’ (if we can call it that) as to what might be happening with the recent spurt of overt dissent in Malaysia, specifically the march for fair elections that occurred about 10 days ago here in Kuala Lumpur. From “Malaysia media claims Jewish plot after rally”, by Sean Yoong in The Seattle Times, 18 July 2011:
Malaysia’s government-linked media claimed Monday that foreign Jewish groups might try to use an opposition-backed push to reform electoral laws to interfere in this Muslim-majority country.
Prime Minister Najib Razak’s office, however, later issued a rare statement distancing itself from the allegation.
Political activists who recently organized Malaysia’s biggest street
demonstration in years insisted the accusation by the ruling party’s
widely read newspaper was an irresponsible attempt to discredit them
through appeals to religious prejudice.
The Malay-language Utusan Malaysia daily said in an editorial that
Malaysians “cannot allow anyone, especially the Jews, to interfere
secretly in this country’s business.” It offered no evidence of a
possible Jewish plot and named no specific group.
Evidence? Why would a Muslim need evidence, when the Quran (5:82 et al) is all the ‘proof’ that any Muslim needs?
The editorial was the latest effort by the newspaper to defend a government crackdown on at least 20,000 people who marched in Kuala Lumpur on July 9 demanding more transparency in electoral laws ahead of
national polls widely expected by mid-2012.
Najib’s office issued a statement late Monday saying Utusan’s claim did “not reflect the views of the government.”
But such claims are surely the views of many individuals both within and without of that government.