Malaysia Bans All Israeli-Flagged Ships from Docking

The Malaysian government on Tuesday banned all Israeli-owned and -flagged ships and any ship that is even bound for Israel from docking at any of its ports. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office said the ban was a response to “the ongoing massacre and continuous cruelty against the Palestinian people.”

Malaysia’s action began with a ban against Israel’s ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, but Anwar’s office said all ships flying Israel’s flag would be barred from docking, as would any ship planning to load cargo at Malaysian ports before heading for Israel.

Bloomberg News noted that Israel “relies on seaborne trade” but “is not a major flag state,” meaning not many ships are flying Israeli flags, so Malaysia’s announcement seemed largely “symbolic.”

ZIM, one of the world’s top ten shipping companies, was granted permission to dock in Malaysia in 2002 and permission to offload cargo in 2005. Malaysia’s primary cargo port, Klang, is one of the busiest in the world.

Shipping website Loadstar said on Wednesday that at least one ZIM ship, the Liberian-flagged ZIM Europe, was scheduled to dock at Port Klang next week but has been notified it would be turned away. The ship would have reached Malaysia this week, except it diverted around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist threat against shipping in the Red Sea. According to Loadstar’s transit data analysis, the Malaysia port ban could affect up to 28 ZIM ships.

Houthi forces board the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via AP)

Malaysia does not extend diplomatic recognition to Israel and has said it will not do so until the Palestinians have their own state. Malaysian passports are stamped with the phrase “valid for all countries except Israel.”

“The ban on Israeli ships is just another expected move made as a message of the unwavering stance of Malaysia on this issue,” foreign policy analyst Collins Chong Yew Keat of the University of Malaysia told Arab News on Wednesday, referring to Anwar’s position on the Gaza war.

Anwar supported Hamas after the unspeakable atrocities of October 7, saying he saw no reason to “punish” the terrorist organization after it raped, murdered, tortured, and kidnapped more than 1,200 Israeli civilians.

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The prime minister urged all Malaysians to “unanimously back” the Palestinian cause. When an opposition politician asked if he was worried about incurring U.S. sanctions against Hamas supporters, he snapped, “I will not accept any threats, including this.”

“This action is unilateral and not valid because we, as members of the United Nations, only recognize decisions made by the U.N. Security Council,” Anwar said, dismissing U.S. sanctions as illegitimate.

Political analysts told the BBC that Malaysia is majority Muslim and faces a rising tide of “religious conservatism,” so Anwar cannot afford to be seen as “having weak views” on the Palestinian situation. Since the October 7 atrocity, he has praised Hamas as freedom fighters, comparing them to the opponents of apartheid in South Africa, and condemned Israel’s response to the Hamas atrocities as “the height of barbarism in the world.”

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