Putrajaya urged to explain firms aiding Israel at KL expo

A coalition supporting the Palestinian cause has taken the government to task over the involvement of companies supplying Israel with military equipment in a defence and military exhibition to be held for four days in Kuala Lumpur starting today.

The Palestine Solidarity Secretariat (SSP) said Putrajaya must explain the participation of companies such as Lockheed Martin, MBDA (BAE Systems), Aim Point, Colt, L3Harris, Leupold, Shield AI and Leonardo in the Defence Services Exhibition Asia (DSA) and National Security Exhibition (Natsec) Asia, a biennial event now in its 18th edition.

The event, which brings together 1,324 companies from 60 countries exhibiting advanced military equipment and security technologies, is organised in collaboration with the defence ministry.

"How can Malaysia, which is vocal in its solidarity with the Palestinians, allow these companies to come here and proudly display their weapons products?

"These are the very people supplying equipment to carry out the genocide, and the genocide is still ongoing to this day," SSP said in a statement.

"It's time for the government to show that its support for Palestine is not mere rhetoric."

MalaysiaNow is trying to get a response from Defence Minister Khaled Nordin, who welcomed participants to the show in a post on X today.

"The exhibition is not just about new weapons, technologies or capabilities. It is also about collaboration and partnership with the global defence community, which is the process of shaping a better future for defence and security," he wrote.

Earlier, X account #Gegar called on the public to protest at Mindef and demand the cancellation of the participation of companies that have supported Israel in its genocidal campaign in Gaza, singling out Lockheed Martin and MBDA BAE Systems as "platinum sponsors".

It also listed a number of local universities participating in the exhibition, including Universiti Malaya, which was recently embroiled in controversy for inviting a pro-Zionist speaker from the US.

On its website, Lockheed Martin says it is "proud" of its role in defending Israel's security.

"Our C-130 and F-16 aircraft have been faithfully serving the Israel Air Force since the 1970s and 1980s, and when a letter of agreement was signed in October 2010, Israel became the first country to select the F-35 through the US government's foreign military sales process," it said.

Lockheed's F-16s and F-35s were used by Israel to bomb Gaza, while its C-130 Hercules aircraft were used for ground attacks.

"They also supplied missiles such as AGM-114 Hellfire and Hellfire R9X, which Israel used to bomb the Al-Shifa hospital," SSP said.

More than 30,000 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October last year.

Last week, MalaysiaNow revealed that a cargo ship belonging to an Israeli company had docked in Port Klang, despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's announcement that all ships linked to the Zionist state would be banned from using local ports as a mark of solidarity with Palestinians.

Checks by MalaysiaNow using Marine Traffic, an application which gives real-time information on the movements of ships worldwide, found that cargo ship ZIM Rotterdam, owned by the Israeli company Zim Integrated Shipping Services, docked at Port Klang on April 29 before departing a day later for China's Port of Shantou.

The transport ministry and the Klang Port Authority have yet to respond to MalaysiaNow's enquiries.