SAN FRANCISCO: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia's position on the Palestinian-Israel conflict, and its calls for a ceasefire and a stop to the incessant bombing of Gaza had been spun to somehow show that Putrajaya condones acts of terrorism.
The prime minister said lies and deceit needed to be straightened out and pointed to what he had said in parliament before this.
"As I had declared in Parliament, there are no two ways about it. We condemn terrorism, in all its forms, and we categorically condemn the actions of killing innocent lives and taking women and children as hostages.
"Likewise, we unequivocally condemn the bombing of civilians, of homes and hospitals and the consequential atrocities against innocent lives, children, women, and men being carried out day and night in Gaza with impunity. These are blatant violations of international law," he said.
Anwar, who is here to attend the Apec Summit, said Malaysia viewed what was happening in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis precipitated by a brutal and indiscriminate war.
"Ultimately, this isn't about which God we pray to. After all, the more than 11,000 victims in Gaza comprise Muslims and Christians as well as nationalities of various countries.
"This is about preventing more deaths, more suffering and more hate. Proponents of the Palestinian cause are neither purveyors of hate speech nor supporters of terrorism," he said.
Anwar noted that what's happening in Palestine would ultimately affect everyone else as the implications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are significant and long-lasting.
"It is poised to affect not just Palestine or the broader Middle East, but also leave an imprint on global relations for many years to come," he said.
Anwar said this at a public talk at the University of California, Berkeley here this afternoon. His talk titled Superpower Rivalry and Rising Tensions in the Asia Pacific: The View from Southeast Asia was attended by about 250 students.
Touching on the issue of democracy in the age of social media disruption, Anwar said the world was now caught at a time of profound disruption across all facets of international relations.
He said information technology was reshaping societies everywhere and nations had reached an unprecedented intersection between opportunity and risk.
He said despite all its benefits, social media had also facilitated the spread of harmful misinformation and falsehoods at unmatched speed and scale.
Speaking of Malaysia's experience, he said the nation had long been heralded as a beacon of moderation, demonstrating a harmonious balance between its rich Islamic heritage and modernity.
"Historically, Malaysia has navigated the complex waters of religious expression with a deft hand, allowing for a pluralistic society where different faiths coexist peacefully under the umbrella of a predominantly Muslim population.
"However, the ubiquity of social media platforms has ushered in new challenges. The digital age has allowed for the rapid dissemination of information, but it has also become a conduit for more intolerant ideologies to seep into the Malaysian discourse," he said.
He said these strains of thought, often rooted in a more rigid interpretation of Islam, had found fertile ground in the unregulated expanses of the online world.