SEPANG: The American academic who riled up Malaysia with his provocative statements over the country’s strong support of Palestine during a lecture at Universiti Malaya (UM) has been described as a “mediocre scholar” by the Prime Minister.

“A mediocre scholar should not have been invited here as a visiting professor in the first place,” said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“The rest has been answered by the Higher Education Minister,” he said on the sidelines of the launch of Malaysia Airlines Bhd Academy and the groundbreaking ceremony of its Flight Simulator Building here yesterday.

Anwar’s remarks were in reference to Bruce Gilley, a political science professor from Portland State University who had downplayed Malaysia’s ties with the United States during a talk at the university in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Gilley was also castigated online for claiming that Malaysia had pushed for a “second Holocaust against the Jewish people”.In a since-deleted post on X, Gilley had said “a country whose political leaders advocate a second Holocaust against the Jewish people will never be a serious player in world affairs and will certainly never be a friend or partner of the US”.

Gilley later said he had removed the post containing the quote taken from his keynote address at UM for the “safety and well-being of his colleagues” at the university, whose leadership has responded to the student outcry over his statements.

On Thursday, Gilley posted on X that he had “safely departed from Malaysia, one step ahead of the Islamo-fascist mob whipped up by the government there”.

Malaysia, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel, has strongly condemned the latter for its ongoing aggression against Palestine, including the ongoing war on Gaza, which has seen more than 34,000 Palestinians killed and 77,000 wounded since Oct 7 last year.

In response to the controversy, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said yesterday that no further action would be pursued against Gilley since he had left the country, adding that he was awaiting a full report from UM on the matter.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/27/pm-calls-gilley-a-mediocre-scholar