Watch Malaysia PM Anwar’s Tribute to Ismail Haniyeh removed by Facebook
Tech giant Meta is facing flak from the Malaysian administration for removing from the Facebook page of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a post tagged with a video paying tribute to slain Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh. Watch the video here.
[Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim with slain Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh when the former met him in Qatar May this year (Image posted on X by Anwar Ibrahim)]
Tech giant Meta is facing flak from the Malaysian administration for removing from the Facebook page of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a post tagged with a video paying tribute to slain Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Ismail Haniyeh assassinated
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a guided rocket attack on his residence in the outskirts of Iranian capital Tehran Wednesday July 31, 2024. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held a day before.
Palestinian Resistance Group Hamas has called Ismail Haniyeh’s brutal killing “assassination” and blamed Israel.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the incident. It had however in the past on several occasions vowed to eliminate Palestinian leadership.
Before his assassination Wednesday, Haniyeh had already lost a number of his family members, including his three sons and 14 grandchildren in Israeli raids.
Several world leaders - including from Russia, China, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and others condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
Joining the world leaders, who decried the killing of Hamas political leader calling it a “heinous crime”, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim too issued a statement which was also posted on Facebook and other social media platforms.
The tribute post was however “disappeared” from Facebook soon after it was posted by Anwar’s office.
Anwar Ibrahim's post removed by Facebook
In his tribute to Ismail Haniyeh, which has now been removed from Facebook, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said:
“It is patently clear that this could only have been carried out in an environment of utter impunity.
“Only the heedless and unconscionable will not see the need to intensify pressure on Israel to stop their murderous rampage.
“I am deeply concerned about what this tragedy would mean for the Palestinian people, who have already been so cruelly subjected to so much pain, hardship and suffering for so many decades.
“Detractors who have criticised me for meeting with Haniyeh in the past, fail to appreciate Haniyeh’s profound desire for a peaceful Middle East and a Palestinian nation restored to its rightful dignity.
“I mourn the loss of a dear friend and a valiant advocate for his people. Al-Fatihah,” he said.
Anwar's conversation with Hamas leader
Tagging with the post, Anwar also uploaded a video of him having a teleconference with Hamas Political Bureau Member, Dr Basem Naim, during which he reiterated Malaysia’s stance in supporting the Palestinian struggle and fight for an independent Palestinian state.
“Ismail Haniyeh is one of the pillars in this (Palestinian) struggle and one of the things that is being fought for is a peaceful resolution to defend the rights of the Palestinian people.
“Clearly, there’s an element of sabotage. They don’t want this to succeed. They don’t want this peaceful resolution,” he said while talking with Dr Basem.
During the conversation with Dr Basem, Anwar also expressed his anger at the failure of the international community to ensure peace and justice and defend the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people, saying that he would continue to do his level best to condemn the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime.
"Cowardice, disgraceful"
Malaysia has accused Meta Platforms of cowardice while condemning the removal of Anwar Ibrahim's tribute to Ismail Haniyeh from Facebook.
“Meta has once again acted disgracefully and has insulted the struggle of the Palestinian people by removing the video and condolence post criticising the assassination of the late Ismail Haniyeh,” Anwar posted on Facebook this morning.
Malaysia has previously complained to Meta over its takedown of content, including local media coverage of Anwar’s last meeting with Haniyeh in Qatar May this year, which was later restored.
Meta at the time said it was not deliberately suppressing voices on its Facebook platform and was not restricting content supporting the Palestinians, according to Reuters.
It has however did not respond to the news agency's request for comment on the removal of Anwar Ibrahim's latest Facebook page.
Meta has designated Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs Gaza, as a “dangerous organization” and bans content praising the group. It also uses a mix of automated detection and human review to remove or label graphic visuals.
Watch Video
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands attended the funeral of Ismail Haniyeh held in Tehran Thursday August 01, 2024. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei led the funeral prayers.
Ismail Haniyeh will be buried in Doha, Qatar after the final funeral prayers at Doha Central Mosque Friday August 02, 2024.
The funeral of Ismail Haniyeh in Doha on Friday is likely to see representation by a number of countries including Russia, China and others.
[With inputs from thesun.my]
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