Aliran finds US President Donald Trump’s recent speech in the Israeli parliament abhorrent and detached from morality and accountability.
In a smug, self-congratulatory setting, Trump bragged that “because of us, the enemies of all civilisation are in retreat… Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms… Now, it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace.”
It was grotesque. The genocider-in-chief, Benjamin Netanyahu, hosting the chief genocide enabler, Trump, gloating about their success on the battlefield to standing ovations without accountability for their crimes.
Multiple credible parties – including human rights organisations, genocide scholars and a UN commission – have recognised Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. This is mass murder, done with intent. Israel is also on trial for genocide by the International Court of Justice.
Trump’s speech showed no recognition that these genocidal actions require accountability. In doing so, he showed contempt for the victims of Gaza.
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That is what great power allows: impunity. Many nations accept this contempt by either adopting a ‘let’s move on’ attitude or keeping silent. Worse, some leaders ingratiate themselves with Trump, with no embarrassment.
Such attitudes are shocking because Trump simplistically painted victory as a battlefield victory against “terrorists…the enemies of all civilisation”.
This is deeply insulting. It promotes the racist idea that Palestinians resist because they lack civilisation, not because they are colonised and dispossessed.
It is also worryingly ignorant. The leader of the most powerful country demonstrates that he does not care to understand why people resist. When a people – in this case the Palestinians – are colonised, dispossessed, demonised and denied their freedom and right to self-determination, they have every reason to resist.
Trump seems unable or unwilling to understand that such unaddressed root causes will continue to be a problem. Indeed, the contempt for Palestinian self-determination is built into Trump’s so-called 20-point plan.
In response to this contempt, Aliran calls upon the Malaysian government to:
- Build a collective international response: Assert all means possible to build a collective response among global leaders (for example, through the Hague Group or members of the September 2025 Arab-Muslim summit in Doha) to the one-sided developments against Palestinians rights
- Reaffirm support for Palestine: Recommit its support for the Palestinian cause, which risks being downplayed by the ‘euphoria’ generated by the one-sided 20-point plan
- Demand accountability and review complicity: Demonstrate that recommitment by calling for accountability for genocide and reviewing the government’s links and contracts with companies complicit in supplying the Israeli occupation forces
- Review the Asean summit invitation: Review the invitation to Trump to attend the Asean summit this month in Kuala Lumpur. At a minimum, review any conditions that would force Malaysia to host a staged event for Trump, such as overseeing the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Asean nations
Aliran executive committee
15 October 2025
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
It is an utter abomination to condone, even aid in genocide. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We must continue to speak truth to power. What manical power figures may not know or may not care about is the fact that horror can boomerang back on its perpetrators