Malaysia bans Israeli flagged ships from docking at its ports in support of Palestine

12-01-2024

Nuno Daun

Southeast Asia & Pacific Team 

Global Human Rights Defence

On the 20th of December, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the decision to place a maritime ban on all Israeli flagged ships or Israeli-affiliated vessels. Malaysia has been quite vocal about its stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Prime Minister has held multiple rallies across the country in support of the Palestinian cause, with a turnout of thousands of people at each rally. Additionally, the Malaysian Prime Minister has made efforts to organize a summit with other Arab nations with the intent of supporting the Palestinian resistance. Furthermore, the Malaysian government has long held relationships and occasionally hosted Hamas officials, and has refused to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. Reports show that the support for the Palestinian cause in Malaysia is bipartisan and representative of the majority of the population. Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country is one of many Asian nations that has long championed Palestine, as well as Indonesia, Brunei and Bangladesh.

Malaysia has continued to accuse Israel of violating international law, calling the conflict a massacre and brutal attack against Palestinians. Following the attacks on cargo ships on the Red Sea, the Malaysian government decided to take action by barring any Israeli ships or Israeli-affiliated from docking in any of its ports. Moreover, as part of this measure, any ships from other countries who are on their way to Israel will also be barred from docking at any Malaysian port. Mainly ZIM, Israel’s largest shipping company.

Malaysia has donated millions of dollars to aid the Palestinian cause in Gaza. Malaysia has been one of the most pro-Palestine countries in the world, with even Malaysia passports bearing the inscription “valid for all countries except Israel.” Furthermore, due to the fact that Malaysia does not recognize Israel, Israeli passports holders are forbidden from entering Israel without prior permission. 

As per the Malaysian Prime Minister, these restrictive measures are to enter into place effective immediately.

Sources and further readings:

• Sebastian Strangio, ‘Malaysia Bars Israeli Cargo Vessels From Its Ports Over Gaza Conflict’ The Diplomat (21 December 2023) https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/malaysia-bars-israeli-cargo-vessels-from-its-ports-over-gaza-conflict/ accessed 12 January 2024.
• Heather Chen, ‘Malaysia bans Israeli owned and linked shipping citing ‘cruelty against the Palestinian people’’ CNN (20 December 2023) https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/20/asia/malaysia-israel-shipping-ban-palestine-support-intl-hnk/index.html accessed 12 January 2024.
• Al Jazeera, ‘Malaysia bans Israel-flagged ships from its ports in response to Gaza war’ (20 December 2023) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/20/malaysia-bans-israeli-affiliated-and-israel-bound-ships-from-its-ports accessed 12 January 2024.