Opinion | MH17 and Israel's Gaza invasion highlight historical disconnect
Philip Bowring says reactions to the crash of MH17 and Israel's bloody invasion of Gaza highlight the historical disconnect nations and people have felt towards one another
The past 10 days have been depressing not just because of two very public outrages, the downing of flight MH17 and the Gaza war, but also because of the many disconnects in international relationships they raise. One of those relates to Hong Kong.
The plane disaster was marked by the curious unwillingness of the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, to place the blame where it so clearly belonged. The Netherlands and Australia showed no such reluctance so Malaysia's silence was all the more surprising, given that the downing was another blow to the country, its airline and tourism, in addition to the many bereavements it was suffering.
Najib defended his position, saying that it enabled negotiation with the rebels over access and the return of bodies. It was claimed that Malaysia somehow had a neutral position in international affairs, which enabled it to talk to the Russians and Ukrainian rebels. This was a dubious claim, but it has been widely accepted by those who know little of Malaysian politics.
Influencing Najib's ultra-cautious stance was support within his ruling party, Umno, for some of the bizarre theories that circulate in Malaysia ascribing all manner of disasters to US, Zionist or general Western actions. These are not the ravings of a lunatic fringe but given credence by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a behind-the-scenes critic of Najib.
At the time of the disappearance of MH370, Mahathir blogged that it was probably some kind of CIA plot. Now there is widespread belief among Malays close to the still influential Mahathir camp that MH17 was a Western plot meant to denigrate Moscow.
Not a strong leader, Najib prefers not to confront his critics within the ruling party.
All this seems doubly bizarre given that Malaysia has a long history of military cooperation with the US, which was recently strengthened at the time of President Barack Obama's visit to Kuala Lumpur in April. Trade relations are also strong, with Malaysia joining the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.