COMMENT | On the outset, it has to be said unequivocally and unambiguously - all right-thinking Malaysians abhor violence. This country has never been involved in any international armed conflict except as mediators and peacekeepers.

All form of violence against fellow humans, especially innocent women and children, must be abhorred, condemned and loathed. No two ways about it.

However, the current hysteria and hypocrisy must stop or strategies be revised. Over the past week, individuals and groups have been speaking out and showing their anger at what is happening in Gaza and rightly so.

By the same token, where were all these people when women and children were killed and maimed in Lebanon? The was silence when Syria was decimated and thousands killed. Closer to home, the military junta in Myanmar is killing protestors but the voices are just whisperings because of the ‘abang-adik’ Asean solidarity.

While Dr Mahathir Mohamed was quick to comment on the Kashmiri issues, none was said anything about the genocide in Sri Lanka which killed more than 160,000 people, including women and children.

All and sundry are issuing press statements calling for a stop to the bombings and killings but if the Israelis refuse to heed the call from the United Nations, will they listen to a bunch of Malaysians? The makers of these statements would be dismissed as jesters or empty barrels.

Shouldn’t we be walking the talk instead of just doing lip service? Yes, the words “Israel” and “Zionists” are offensive and undesirable to the majority of our citizens. By extension, the United States to has been included because they support the regime in Tel Aviv.

Are these words and actions from the heart or a token show of protests? Since we don’t have any diplomatic relations with Israel, it is assumed that we don’t trade with them. But this is far from the truth.

In June 2010, we investigated and uncovered an active two-way trade between the two countries...