US Congressman Says Malaysia Is “Hunting Down Jews” — Here’s Why He Is Wrong

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US members of congress including Ohio representative Greg Landsman, recently posted a letter addressed to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the American government to suspend all military aid to Malaysia after he accused the Malaysian government of “Hunting down and removing Jews from the country”.

Landsman and Josh Gottheimer led the letter, co-signed by six others including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Brad Sherman, and Jared Moskowitz.

In the letter, they highlighted Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s recent announcement regarding “tracking down and immediately deporting any Israeli citizens in Malaysia”.

“For millennia, Jews around the world have seen this playbook. The demonization and expulsion of Jews eventually leads to the worst outcomes. It is necessary that the United States push back on this antisemitism,” they said in the letter.

They also claimed that Malaysia has open ties with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), accusing the government of “welcoming terrorists while targeting Jews”.

The letter asked Rubio to review the US-Malaysia security relationship and gave Kuala Lumpur 15 days to reverse the policy — or face suspension of IMET funding, the programme that pays for Malaysian military personnel to train with the US armed forces.

According to the letter, they expect Malaysia to not target Israeli nationals (which he calls one of the United States’ closest allies) since Malaysia is receiving aid and support from them.

Malaysia is not targeting Jews specifically

His statement is less than accurate, since Malaysia as a government does not specifically target those of the Jewish faith.

As a matter of fact, Malaysia simply does not recognize Israel — a “nation” of people who coincidentally, by majority, practices Judaism.

The Malaysian government bars entry to Israeli citizens or anyone who holds an Israeli passport. In other words, a person of any faith who holds an Israeli passport can be barred from entering Malaysia, whereas any that enter the country by other means would be deported.

Malaysia’s clear policy on barring Israeli nationals from entering the country was established in solidarity with Palestine, which has suffered from brutal acts of genocide by the Israeli government and its military, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), since 2023.

The Part Worth Reading Slowly

With that said, Malaysia’s non-recognition of Israel is not new.

The US has been funding Malaysian military training throughout — through every Gaza flare-up, every UN vote, every speech of every prime minister.

The urgency is new, the policy is not.

Also worth noting: the letter’s primary source for the claim that Hamas fighters trained on Malaysian soil is a 2023 report from the Institute for Counter-Terrorism — an Israeli think tank.

And the timing carries its own irony.

Anwar’s deportation announcement came just days before Malaysia’s own Immigration Department admitted it could not locate 19 foreigners linked to the now-shuttered Network School in Forest City, Johor — raising quiet but pointed questions about who exactly is on Malaysian soil, and how closely anyone is actually being tracked.

America’s double standards?

In the comments, many criticised the letter as holding double standards to what the US government is doing to foreign nationals on its own soil.

One individual advised the Ohio congressman to reflect on the realities in his own homeland before directing letters to another country.

“The United States has actively pursued the removal of communities it deems ‘unwanted’ — Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, Africans, and Muslims. These groups have borne the brunt of enforcement of actions and deportation flights.

“To raise concerns about Malaysia’s sovereign decision to not recognise Israel, and to equate that stance with antisemitism while overlooking our own policies that marginalise Latinos, Muslims, and Africans, is a contradiction that undermines credibility,” said the Facebook user.

At the same time, Malaysians bombarded Landsman’s post with comments questioning the sudden accusations and unwarranted statement, along with the occasional “Mak kau hijau”.

Landsman is an American politician who has been the US representative from Ohio’s 1st congressional district since 2023. The district is based in Cincinnati, and includes most of its inner suburbs. A member of the Democratic Party, Landsman served on the Cincinnati City Council from 2018 to 2022.

Rubio has not publicly responded, and Malaysia has not blinked.

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US Congressman Says Malaysia Is “Hunting Down Jews” — Here’s Why He Is Wrong

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