WHEN Anwar Ibrahim was imprisoned over allegations of sodomy some years ago, he was compared to Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress (ANC) leader.  

Now that he has become the prime minister, Anwar is equating Hamas to ANC and Mandela. He did that during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in Dewan Rakyat recently.  

What takes the cake is his equating nuclear bomb blasts to the constant bombing of Gaza by Israeli Defence Forces. 

Equating ANC and Mandela to Hamas and its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh is plain wrong. 

Mandela served 27 years in prison. 

Haniyeh only spent three and a half years behind bars.  

Prior to Haniyeh, it was Khaled Meshaal who led Hamas’s political bureau. 

Interestingly, it was not Israel that imprisoned Meshaal. That honour goes to Jordan. 

Mandela’s struggle for freedom was very much grounded. He is a true leader of South Africans. 

That isn’t the case for Haniyeh and Meshaal, who are both based in Qatar. 

Haniyeh grew up in Gaza but his so-called Hamas struggle led him to move to Egypt, later on to Turkey and Qatar. 

Meshaal was based in Syria before moving to Qatar.  

One wonders why they were not in Gaza to fight the Israelis. 

Anwar is also wrong when he said there is genocide happening in Palestine, particularly in Gaza. 

As of 2021, the population growth of Palestinians (2.5%) is higher than that of the Israelis (1.6%).

Anwar also scored his own goal by claiming that Israel is an apartheid nation. 

There are Christians and Muslims thriving in Israel and they even serve in the Israel Defense Forces.  

Today, there are absolutely no Jews in Gaza and the number of Christians have dropped to around 1,000 since Hamas came to power. 

As for equating the frequent bombings in Gaza with nuclear bombs, perhaps Anwar ought to gain some insight on the difference between hand grenades, missiles, and nuclear bombs from the authorities in Malaysia. 

It is time for Anwar to stop capitalising on the ongoing war to boost his image. – November 9, 2023.

* Mohamad Mamoud reads The Malaysian Insight.  

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.