Do what's right for Palestine, says prominent thinker amid storm over Anwar's three yesses to CNN anchor

Prominent thinker and social critic Chandra Muzaffar has warned against any attempt to support a narrative of Israel seeking to justify the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, as the chorus of condemnation grew over Anwar Ibrahim's stance during a CNN interview in which he agreed with a suggestion that the Zionist state has the right to exist and defend itself.

Chandra said Israel was obsessed with the twin questions of its existence and self-defence because of the crimes it committed against the Palestinians to establish the entity.

"Israel is perhaps the only country in the world that continuously raises this question: its right to exist. Why? Does Angola or Denmark or Finland or Thailand raise such a question?" the former academic asked in a short response to MalaysiaNow.

He said the argument of Israel's "right to self-defence" to justify its military campaign in Gaza does not apply to a state that has occupied Palestinian land for decades.

"It is occupied people, the subjugated, that have an inalienable right to defend themselves. The occupier has no such right. The Occupier should seek to liquidate its occupation.

"In the name of justice, let us do what is right!" he said.

It comes as government leaders were forced on the defensive over Anwar's controversial remarks in a recent interview with CNN's Richard Quest.

In a five-minute excerpt of the interview, which Quest shared on his X account, Anwar criticised the Western media for spreading a one-sided narrative that ignored the occupation of Palestinian territories, before being interrupted by Quest with two questions.

Quest: But you would accept a) Israel's right to exist.
Anwar: Yes, yes.
Quest: And b) Israel's right to defend itself.
Anwar: Yes.

His answers not only contradict the Malaysian government's policy of not recognising the Zionist state, but also brought to mind a controversial statement he made more than a decade ago to "support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel".

A prominent London-based Palestinian academic also expressed surprise at Anwar's stance, adding that he could have responded differently to such questions.

"The correct answer to the first question would be the following: 'Are you asking me to recognise the legitimacy of a colonial entity built on land stolen from the people of Palestine? Are you asking me to recognise the legitimacy of a state borne out of genocide?'" Azzam Tamimi, an authority on the Palestinian conflict who has written a book on the history of Hamas, told MalaysiaNow.

"The correct answer to the second question is: 'Who has the right to self-defence, the aggressor or the victim of aggression?'" he added.

Social media have been swarmed with angry reactions to the CNN interview, prompting Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil to warn of action using the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the internet regulator behind a series of website blockings and censorship of content critical of Anwar's coalition government.

Hours after the warning, a TikTok clip by MalaysiaNow showing opposition MPs criticising Anwar over the interview, which had more than 1.6 million views at press time, was blocked for users of several local service providers, in what is believed to be the latest censorship move by the government.

Why Israel obsessed with 'existence' and 'self-defence'

Chandra, whose organisation International Movement for a Just World is one of the fiercest local critics of Israel and its Western supporters, gave four reasons for the Zionist state's obsession with its existence.

He said a main reason is its usurpation of lands which originally belonged to Palestinian Jews, Christians and Muslims.

"It was never the exclusive home of a particular ethnic or religious group," Chandra said.

He said the creation of Israel in 1948 without a plebiscite violated the UN Charter and ensured an unfair distribution of land favouring Jewish immigrants.

Chandra said decades of wars, massacres and illegal annexation of territory ensured a small group of Zionist Jews maintaining their grip on the Palestinians through a system of apartheid.

"Israel continues to be perceived as an outpost of Western imperial power whose interests are antithetical to those of the people of West Asia and North Africa.

"In a nutshell, it is because Israel lacks legitimacy in every sense of the term, that the people of remain opposed to it as an entity," Chandra added.

He said Israel as an "occupying power bereft of all legitimacy" has no right to invoke "self-defence" in attacking Palestinians.

"Who is Israel defending itself from? Over the last 76 years or so, Israel has been fighting the Palestinians, the Lebanese, and at various times, the Syrians, the Iraqis, the Yemenis, the Iranians and other people. All these communities and nationalities have at some point or other resisted Israeli occupation and subjugation.

"In International law all these people have a right to resist Occupation even if it requires them to resort to arms."