Dr Musa Denies Calling Attendees “Zionists,” Banning Takbir Chants At “Freedom For Palestine” Rally
Viva Palestina Malaysia chairman Dr Musa Nordin said the restrictions were to ensure decorum and ethical standards were maintained at the rally despite the high emotions.
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During the Freedom for Palestine rally at Dataran Merdeka yesterday, Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin was accused of calling some attendees holding “Devil Netanyahu” placards as Zionists and banning attendees from chanting “Allahu Akbar.”
READ MORE:[Photos] Massive Gathering At Dataran Merdeka: Malaysians Unite For Palestine
Despite the criticisms by some who said the rally’s stance was weak due to the restrictions, Dr Musa stands by what he said.
He told Scoop that those angry over his actions at the rally were “small-minded” and did not understand the “bigger picture” of the Israel-Palestine war.
Musa explained that the Netanyahu caricatures on the placards were considered provocative by his security team, so he told the man holding the placard to take it down. Musa allegedly told the man to hold his own rally if he insisted on holding the placard up.
(The placard) did not reflect our adab (manners) or decorum in VPM whereby we maintain our standards of ethics, even when emotions run high.
Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
He claimed he did not call attendees “Zionists”
In addition, Musa denied calling the attendees holding the Devil Netanyahu placards Zionists. He merely meant to tell the crowd not to stoop to the level of Zionists instead.
I didn’t say he was a Zionist. I said that we should not drop to the level of Zionist discourse. We are people of the heavens, we are Muslims (with) high standards of manners propagated by our Prophet. The Prophet was oppressed, yet he maintained his language, attitude and decorum.
Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
He claimed that the provocations at the rally involved a group of Palestinian attendees who were not interested in listening to the talks and interrupted speeches instead.
This led to the security at the rally to warn the group of police action if they continued misbehaving at the rally.
When asked about banning attendees from chanting the takbir (Allahu Akbar), Musa said he didn’t disallow it and explained it was a multi-racial and multi-religious event.
We (VPM) made an official statement that (the rally) is for a multiracial and multi-religious community. We want everyone to be involved in the chants, so if you (chant) the takbir, then you are isolating the non-Muslims in the crowd.
Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
Musa claimed that those who insist on chanting the takbir can be quite conservative and extremist due to their “background of conservatism.”
He said the ground rules of the rally were clear from the start; that VPM is respectful of other religious groups and that expression of Islamism is discouraged.
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