Authored by Kamal Aarif Kamaruddin, Reviewed by Aarani Diana Santhananaban, All photos are provided by GEGAR.

Since October 7th – which remains one of the greatest acts of decolonisation by an occupied population in modern history – I joined the millions of people across the world who, out of a sense of moral and historical urgency, became radicalised into joining the mass actions against the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Along with a few fellow comrades, we formed Gegar Amerika, later known as GEGAR (Gerakan Gabungan Anti-Imperialis), – a progressive, anti-imperialist and anti-zionist collective united for the liberation of Palestine.

We slept in tents for 7 days outside of the U.S. embassy; defended the encampment against police and state authorities; joined hundreds in staging a sit-in against the police for its defence of the U.S. embassy in January 2024, and got called into questioning by the police for organising a protest against the NATSEC military exhibition in May 2024, which hosted the biggest sponsors of the genocide including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Leonardo.

On June 10th last year, we disrupted the U.S. National Independence Day Dinner in KL, which hosted the U.S. Embassy while hundreds were being massacred in a joint US-Israeli operation in Nuseirat refugee camp.

Since then, we continued to organise direct actions against complicit Western imperialist  embassies and zionist corporations; from PNB and Sime Darby’s ties to Caterpillar to the starvation campaigns waged by Israel, America, U.K., and European Union against Gaza.

In response to Bisan Al-Owda’s call for action to stop the US-Israeli siege of Gaza, Malaysian protestors picket the front gates of the US embassy, banging pots and pans, while holding a banner which reads “Israel, Amerikka, UK, & EU: Stop Starving Gaza!“, 30 July 2025.

Yet, as we near the eve of Hari Kebangsaan and Hari Malaysia, the Malaysian government and its institutions, in spite of its nationalistic and superficially pro-Palestinian rhetoric, continues to serve and enforce the agenda of its imperialist masters.

After 2 years of being on the frontlines against genocide, it is clear that the question of Palestine is no longer just a struggle against a 77-year old zionist occupation. In the heart of Malaya, it is also a struggle against the oppressive neo-colonial state in Putrajaya, which upholds the interests of Washington and its Western allies, while oppressing workers and Indigenous peoples at home.

A Malaysian police officer carries a gun during a GEGAR protest at the US Embassy on the anniversary of the First Intifada, 13 December 2024.

Our solidarity as Malaysians falls flat as long as we refuse to confront a basic but uncomfortable reality: that until Malaysia breaks away from the forces of U.S. imperialism, we are and continue to be complicit in the U.S.-Israeli death machine. We have been and are still enabling the genocide of Palestinians.

Recently, in July 2025, the Malaysian military hosted U.S. and Australian armed forces in Perak, as the Western-imperialist war machine actively committed genocide and mass murder across Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, and Global South. Not only does it partner us in genocide: it invites the presence of war criminals in our communities; polluting our environment and neighbourhoods with tanks, fighter jets, and armed trucks, muddying our moral standards, and tainting our obligations to the oppressed.

Meanwhile, next year, in 2026, the Royal Malaysian Navy will participate in the bi-annual RIMPAC naval exercise in Hawaii alongside the imperialist America and zionist state of  Israel. The RIMPAC exercises is a microcosm of capitalism’s murderous tendencies: the fascist militaries of the global ruling class gather in the Pacific to exchange the technologies, tactics, and strategies that they have gained from waging wars and counterinsurgencies against poor and oppressed bodies around the globe.

Not only does our navy participate in a military exercise alongside genocidal forces, but activists in Okinawa and Hawa’ii have long protested the RIMPAC exercises for its destruction of Indigenous lands, contamination of air and water, and sexual and patriarchal violence against Indigenous women, girls, queer and gender-diverse people.

Soldier or policeman brandishes a rifle while overlooking a pots-and-pans banging action at the gates of the US embassy to protest the US, Israeli, EU, and UK-imposed starvation of Gaza, 30 July 2025.

After 2 years of boycotts and rallies, it is clear that the Malaysian state remains firmly loyal to the forces of Capital and Empire. The same government that shook hands with Ismail Haniyeh has no qualms joining forces with the zionist army bombing patients in Al-Shifa and massacring hundreds in a single 10-minute operation in Nuseirat.

Meanwhile, global corporations, financing the genocide have further entrenched their neo-colonialist interests in Malaysia. In July 2024, as humanitarian zones in Mawasi were relentlessly bombed, a joint consortium led by Khazanah, EPF, Abu Dhabi Investment, and Blackrock acquired shares of Malaysian Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB), handing control of 39 Malaysian airports to the Blackrock monopoly.

Blackrock is a major sponsor of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, funding American weapons manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co, Raytheon Co, General Dynamics Corp, and Northrop Grumman Corp. For decades, Blackrock has funded America’s overseas wars of aggression, The cumulative death toll from the post-9/11 wars of counterterrorism has reached over 4.5 million in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen in what could only be considered a modern Holocaust.

As it spreads war and devastation across the globe, Blackrock has maintained a monopolistic grip over the Malaysian economy; owning equity shares in hundreds of firms including Simes Darby, Petronas, Tenaga Nasional, and more. Since the past decade, Blackrock has played an increasingly influential role in almost every aspect of working-class life in Malaysia from EPF pensions to healthcare to “Syariah-compliant” banking.

Activists stage a sit-in in front of the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) headquarters in Jalan Palestin to protest Blackrock investments in retirement funds, 29 August 2024.

Meanwhile, in its drive to secure financial investments from Western imperialist entities, Anwar’s government is pushing for the construction of Microsoft and Google cloud infrastructure and data centres across Malaysia, exploiting our environment, and polluting our land, water, and air. In allowing our resources to be colonised by Western tech giants, Malaysia becomes an integral link in a long imperialist supply chain from the mining and exploitation of minerals in the Congo and Bolivia, to the supply of digital infrastructure and services for Israeli and American war criminals.

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