Malaysian customs had denied entry to a lorry carrying a container believed to be owned by Israeli shipping giant Zim as it attempted to cross the border from Thailand, Malaysia’s state newswire Bernama said on Wednesday.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has banned all vessels owned by Zim, along with any ship bearing the Israeli flag, from docking and unloading cargo at its ports, in one of the most substantial moves by any Southeast Asian nation to protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The container was detected on Sunday as the trailer was passing through the immigration and customs checkpoint in Padang Besar on the Malaysian side of the border with Thailand, according to Ismail Hashim, the head of the customs in northern Perlis state.
“During the image-scanning process, the operator of the scanning machine found that the container bore the logo of Zim. The vehicle was detained for confirmation and further inspection,” Ismail was quoted as saying by Bernama.
“The container was instructed to turn back to [the] neighbouring country on the same day.”
Malaysia has been among the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause since last October as Israel launched its war on Gaza, which has so far killed over 36,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Anwar has used bilateral and global engagements to criticise Israel’s bombardments that have levelled most of the territory, as well as the United States’ continued diplomatic and military support of its Middle Eastern ally.
At home, Malaysians have boycotted businesses seen to have links to Israel and the US, which has caused sharp losses for the local operators of fast food giants McDonald’s and KFC and US coffee chain Starbucks.
Malaysian authorities in March detained a man for allegedly repackaging jumbo medjool dates believed to have come from Israel for sale on the local market.
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KFC Malaysia temporarily closes some outlets amid anti-Israel boycott
KFC Malaysia temporarily closes some outlets amid anti-Israel boycott
But Anwar and his administration have also been slammed for apparent double standards after maintaining ties with weapons manufacturers and investment firms that critics say support the “genocide” of Palestinians.
Last month, the opposition and civil society groups accused Anwar and the government of being hypocrites for allowing an entity owned by US investment giant BlackRock to be part of a consortium planning to take over Malaysia’s largest airport management firm.
BlackRock is a key stakeholder in weapons manufacturers that supply arms used by Israel’s military in its Gaza offensive, critics have said.
Boycott groups also staged an earlier protest at a defence expo hosted by Malaysia, demanding that the government remove US weapons maker Lockheed Martin – which builds the F-35 fighter jets used in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza – from being a sponsor and participant.