This is not our culture, it won’t happen again, says Palestinian Ambassador
PETALING JAYA: The Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Walid Abu Ali has apologised for the commotion involving a group of Palestinians at Wisma Transit Kuala Lumpur (WTKL) recently.
“I apologise on behalf of all Palestinians in Malaysia and back home over what happened.
“This is not our culture, ethics or beliefs. We, as Palestinians, are always grateful for the endless support shown to our people and struggle,” he said when contacted.
Walid said on Aug 16, when a total of 127 Palestinian citizens, including 41 injured as a result of Israeli attacks at the Gaza Strip, safely arrived in Malaysia, some of the patients were transferred to the Tuanku Mizan Military Hospital, while their relatives were given accommodation at hotels.
“For their own security and safety reasons, the patients were kept in the healthcare facility and their movements were kept limited.
“They also have limited visitors,” he said.
According to Walid, some of the patients have been staying at the hospital since then and did not have a chance to go out.
“They were under a lot of emotional pressure since they arrived from war-torn Gaza.
“Some of them are experiencing a totally new culture and people around them,” he said.
Walid added that the Palestinian Embassy in Malaysia had tried its best to keep in touch and visited them regularly, attending to their needs as much as possible.
“I always reminded them to respect the host country and all of its people and culture, because there are thousands of Palestinians back in Gaza who do not have the same opportunity as them,” he said.
Walid revealed that some of them had requested to return to Palestine, and his embassy had a meeting with the relevant authorities to come up with an action plan to assist them.
“For those who want to go back to Palestine through Egypt, we will facilitate and coordinate their return while those who want to stay, we will continue to provide them with the necessary healthcare until they are fully treated.
“My message to Malaysians: it will not happen again.
“We love Malaysia and its people.
“But please consider that these people came under a lot of pressure due to the ongoing war.
“They need special care. We at the embassy along with Malaysia’s Defence Ministry are doing our best to help them while they are here,” he said.
On Wednesday evening, a slipper was thrown at an officer and property was damaged after a group of Palestinians allegedly became upset after reportedly being denied permission to stay outside WTKL.
“It is believed that there were some Palestinians who were unhappy because enforcement officers did not allow one of them to stay outside,” the Malaysian Armed Forces said in a statement yesterday.
“The person involved then got upset and caused a commotion in front of the WTKL guard station with family and friends.”
On late Wednesday evening WTKL – a hospitality complex primarily serving military personnel, civilian staff members of the Defence Ministry and their families in transit – denied the group’s request to leave the premises, as they were only in Malaysia for transit purposes.
“The officer on duty also asked those involved to leave the area.
“They then entered the main lobby of WTKL, caused a commotion and went on a rampage by breaking vases and damaging the decorations there,” said the Defence Ministry in a statement.
One member of the group then allegedly threw a slipper at an officer, it said.
“Representatives of the Palestinian Embassy were also present and tried to (stop) the commotion but were unsuccessful,” the ministry said.
Videos of the incident have since gone viral on social media.
