Jews different from racist Zionists: PAS

(Harakah Daily) – Echoing party president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu explains why the Islamic party is against economic dealings with those linked to the Zionist state of Israel but finds no problem dealing business with Jews.

“There is nothing wrong engaging in business transactions with Jews. However, those who reside in the illegal state of Israel subscribe to Zionism. As such, dealing with people from the state of Israel is akin to endorsing Zionism” said Mat Sabu.

He added that as such, there was nothing wrong for Muslims to have ties with Jews who do not reside in the Occupied Territories known as Israel.

Mat Sabu’s remarks followed a statement by Hadi at a dinner organised by the Muslimat wing, where he outlined the differences between Judaism and Zionism.

“One [Judaism] is religion, another is an ideology. While there is nothing wrong to deal with Jews, we are strongly against any dealing with Zionists,” he replied in response to a question on Pakatan Rakyat’s policy on doing business with Jews.

Hadi added that the Prophet himself had engaged in ties with the Jews in Madinah.

Zionism, an extremist ideology which gained momentum in the early 19th century, claims that Palestine is the ‘promised land’ of the Jewish people. As ‘compensation’ following Europe’s systematic persecution of its Jewish communities, occupying Western powers in the Middle East in the aftermath of World War II succumbed to growing calls by the Zionist lobby for a Jewish homeland carved out from fertile Palestinian lands. The state of Israel was established on Palestinian lands in 1948, sparking a protracted conflict between Muslim and Christian Palestinians and armed Jewish migrants.

Revelation that the Barisan Nasional government had endorsed business ties between Malaysian and Israeli companies, despite both not having diplomatic ties, has led to calls on the government to come clean over its stance on Palestine.