What The BlackRock Issue Is And Isn’t About
BDS Malaysia suggests reframing the issue of BlackRock buying a stake in MAHB.
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There is a genocide taking place right now in Gaza. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and the numbers are rising. It is continuing because the genocide is conducted by the wealthy, powerful and influential. Might is right as far as they are concerned. But they are a minority of the world’s population. The rest of the world, meaning us, are expected to stay silent, feel helpless or feign indifference and allow the killing to continue. This is indeed an option – only if we believe our actions and inactions are not accountable in this world and the hereafter, and we can carry on with our lives without any semblance of a conscience.
That is not an option for many of us simply because we have a moral conscience. In the case of Palestine, might is not right. We have to care and speak out; we cannot allow the killing to continue, and we cannot allow ourselves to feel helpless because that is exactly what the powerful and murderous minority wants us to feel.
So, what is the BlackRock issue all about?
It is about acting according to the moral imperative to do the right things to end or, at the very least, help end an ongoing atrocity.
It is about sending a message to the powerful and murderous minority that there is a limit to their power. And that they will account for the crimes they commit.
It is about convincing ourselves that we are not helpless to help those who are in need of help.
It is about being a member of the international community that takes cognizance of the fact that the UN has explicitly mentioned BlackRock, among other entities, as being complicit in the atrocities.
The raging arguments thus far about BlackRock have conveniently and self-servingly ignored the momentous 21st June statement by the UN that states and companies which are enabling and complicit in the perpetuation of the mass killing of civilians in Gaza must stop supplying Israel with weapons and that includes companies, such as BlackRock, which continue to fund the weapons manufacturers. Implicit in that UN statement is the duty and obligation of member states to apply pressure on BlackRock (and its ilk) to comply with the UN’s call.
Therefore, Malaysia must act responsibly as a UN member to heed that call and use the present opportunity to tell BlackRock that it is not welcome to partner in the ownership and running of the country’s strategic assets unless it complies with the UN.
Malaysia’s duty, as a sovereign nation, to respond and act positively to that 21st June UN statement trumps all arguments which seek to justify a ‘business as usual’ attitude with BlackRock, an attitude which one can equate to turning a blind eye to the genocidal onslaught by the Israelis against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Therefore, the BlackRock issue is about going beyond rhetoric and actually taking meaningful action to support the Palestinian cause.
It is about exercising our sovereignty to do what is necessary to pursue the above.
It is about leaders knowing their place and being in sympathy with the rakyat, explaining sincerely why certain things were done or not done and what the government is free or not free to do.
It is about leaders not acting as henchmen for BlackRock and taking it upon themselves to indulge in scaremongering about what the company might do to the country were its wrath to be incurred.
What is BlackRock NOT about?
Most evidently, it is not about partisan politics. Politicians within and outside the ruling coalition have expressed their strong reservations or objections about having a Zionist-loving company as a partner in owning and managing the country’s airports.
The BlackRock issue is not about cheap political one-upmanship or point-scoring for our politicians. It is already a bipartisan issue.
It is certainly not about the politics of race, religion or regionalism. As can be seen in the pro-Palestinian street demonstrations the world over, it is a humanitarian and moral issue transcending ethnicity and religion.
It is not about a strictly business matter where moral and humanitarian considerations and that of international law can be ignored and thrown into the dustbin such that a party complicit with genocide is deemed an indispensable partner to the extent that none other can replace it – all in the name of business.
Malaysia has undeniably contributed much in the international arena towards building up support for the Palestinian cause. That fact gives us all the more reason to seize the opportunity that the BlackRock issue presents to drive home the message that Malaysia stands with Palestine and on the right side of humanity, history, and international law and henceforth to tell BlackRock that we do not want it to be a partner in running our strategic assets.
We respectfully ask our leaders to hear the calls and demands of thousands upon thousands of students and people of conscience all over the world for meaningful action to be taken to stop the Gaza genocide and proceed to act on those calls.
Saying ‘No!’ to BlackRock would be such a meaningful action.
BDS Malaysia
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