The Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, says he has appealed directly to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to reinstate funding to UNRWA, arguing the aid agency was the most effective channel to “help the besieged civilians” of Gaza.
Addressing the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday, Anwar said countries should not apply international law selectively.
“Unfortunately, the gut-wrenching tragedy that continues to unfold in the Gaza Strip has laid bare the self-serving nature of the much-vaunted rules-based order,” Anwar said.
“The differing responses by the west to human suffering defy reasoning.”
Anwar questioned why the west had been “so vociferous, vehement and unequivocal in the condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while remaining utterly silent on the relentless blood-letting inflicted on innocent men, women and children of Gaza”.
“Sure, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between,” he said as he delivered the 2024 Gareth Evans Oration, named after a long-serving former foreign minister.
Anwar said some countries had labelled as “counterproductive” the proceedings initiated by South Africa at the International Court of Justice alleging Israel had breached the genocide convention. Israel has repeatedly denied claims of genocide levelled against it.
“But what could be more consistent with any reasonable conception of a rules-based order, than an appeal to those values before a panel of 17 judges?”
Anwar said it would foolish to think these inconsistencies would “go unnoticed”.
Asked later whether he included Australia in his critique of western responses, Anwar said he gave “credit to Australia, New Zealand and Canada, because they have somewhat shifted from the original stance and called for a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance”.
Those three countries voted in December for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of hostages. They also issued a joint statement in February warning Israel against a “catastrophic” ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel states that its legitimate aim is to “destroy” Hamas and to rescue more than 100 hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza after the militant group’s 7 October attack on southern Israel.
But Anwar said the conflict had a longer history. He said Palestinians had suffered since the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, when hundreds of thousands of people were expelled or fled from their homeland after the creation of the state of Israel.
“But at least stop, for goodness sakes – stop the killings of children, women and civilians. And now I think Australia is onboard consistently calling for this.”
Anwar said he had urged Albanese – during a meeting in Melbourne on Monday – to fund UNRWA at the same time as investigations continued into allegations from Israel that 12 of the organisation’s staff members were involved in the 7 October attack.
“[Albanese] was very attentive, very polite, as most good politicians [are] … and allowed me to present my case very strongly on the issue of Gaza,” he said.
Amid reports Canada may soon reinstate funding to UNRWA, Albanese told reporters on Wednesday that Australia would “make an assessment at an appropriate time” about providing about $6m in top-up funding that was frozen in late January.
The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, who was born in Malaysia, warmly welcomed Anwar to the ANU stage on Thursday.
“Prime Minister, as a proud Sabahan-Australian, it is a singular honour for me to introduce you today,” she said.
Wong said it was “important for us to continue to use our voices to advocate for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and humanitarian access, the release of hostages, and for the protection of civilians”.
Wong called for “an enduring peace with an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel”. Unlike Australia, Malaysia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
Wong also spoke about the spillover impacts of the conflict on social cohesion: “Regrettably, here in Australia, we see people who claim to champion human rights and justice behaving in ways that show little regard for either.”
Wong said there had also been “shocking attempts at intimidation and character assassination” and “blatant antisemitism and Islamophobia” but Australia must remain “a pluralist country”.
