Bruce Gilley, a Portland State University professor, sparked a scandal in Malaysia late last month. Gilley claimed during a lecture in Kuala Lumpur that the Southeast Asian country could never be a trusted friend of the West because its leaders are supporting a "second Holocaust against the Jewish people."

His comments referred to the Malaysian government's public support of Hamas since the Gaza War began.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has twice spoken with the leader of the militant group, Ismail Haniyeh, since the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the German government, the EU and the United States, among others.

Gilley's comments and previous posts on X, formerly Twitter, ignited a firestorm on social media.

Even Anwar intervened to criticize the Universiti Malaya, the country's highest-ranking university, for inviting a "mediocre scholar" to give the lecture on April 23.

But that wasn't the end of it.

After Gilley left the country, he posted on X that he managed to escape an "Islamo-fascist mob" whipped up by Malaysia's government, adding it "was not safe" to travel there.

This prompted even more of a rebuke from the Malaysian authorities.

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur became involved to clarify that it classifies Malaysia at Level 1 on its travel risk index, meaning travelers are to exercise normal precautions in the country but that it is still a safe visit.

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Other foreign nationals living in Malaysia jumped in to accuse Gilley of spreading lies about insecurity.

The incident has reignited debates within Southeast Asia about the West's alleged moral decline for not having more forcefully condemned Israeli actions in Gaza.

Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian territory in response to the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 that killed at least 1,200 people. More than 250 people were........

© Deutsche Welle