PETALING JAYA, Feb 20 — South Africa regards Malaysia as a key ally in advocating for Palestinian rights and self-determination, according to South Africa’s High Commissioner to Malaysia David E. Malcomson.
“From the time Malaysia supported our (South Africa’s) own liberation struggle, when we achieved our feeedom we understood that Malaysia will always stand with us on the Palestinian issue.
“And that has been done all the decade since then,” he told Bernama after the roundtable discussion on South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) Initiative and Its Implication on Tel Aviv at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia on Tuesday (February 13).
When asked if he hopes Malaysia will be consistent in supporting South Africa, Malcomson said: “I know Malaysia will be consistent in this issue; I do not have to hope.”
Bernama earlier reported Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan is in The Hague, the Netherlands, to participate in the public hearings on the request for the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem.
Mohamad is scheduled to deliver Malaysia’s oral submission at the Peace Palace in The Hague on February 22 at about 5.10pm local time (about 12.10am on February 23 in Malaysia).
“Malaysia is participating in this Advisory Opinion procedure with the aim of assisting the ICJ in the examination of the legal questions put to it by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),” he said in a statement.
The request for the Advisory Opinion emanates from UNGA’s Resolution 77/247, adopted on December 30, 2022, where Malaysia co-sponsored and voted in favour of the resolution.
The Advisory Opinion is a separate procedure from the application by South Africa to institute proceedings against Israel filed before the ICJ on December 29, 2023.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year in retaliation for the attack by Hamas. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities, leading to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
— Bernama
