KUALA LUMPUR: Former Foreign Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar warned the government not to overlook the three démarche notes issued by the United States to Malaysia.
He said issuing such a diplomatic note is considered normal at multilateral and bilateral levels. However, if it has been repeatedly issued, as such in the recent case, the government must be careful in handling the matter.
"It has been three times that (the demarche notes) were issued. This is very serious.
"It means that on the part of the US, it is continuously pursuing the matter. Repeated notices mean it is considered a diplomatic threat," he said when contacted by the New Straits Times today.
He said Malaysia has been issued with similar diplomatic notices before and it is considered normal as long as the country responded accordingly.
He said Malaysia has been continuously championing the rights of the Palestinians even before his time in the ministry.
Looking at the speech by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, he said the US is more focused on the support shown by Malaysia towards Hamas, and not the strong message calling for an end to the conflict or ceasefire, and for immediate humanitarian assistance to the Palestine people.
Syed Hamid said there is nothing wrong for calling out Israel for its act of genocide and war crime as it is in line with calls made by a majority of the countries in the world as well.
"We are quarelling for equal action to be taken against Israel for committing war crimes in Palestine, and this has not only happened since Oct 7 but for over 70 years.
"In international relations, we must be very careful with our response," he added.
The Foreign Ministry has received three démarche notes from the US Embassy for Malaysia's reluctance to consider Hamas as a terrorist group.
Anwar had also said two démarche notes were received on Oct 13 and 30, while another was sent to the Malaysian ambassador to the US in Washington.
A demarche is a formal diplomatic representation of one government's official position, views, or wishes on a subject to an appropriate official in another government or international organisation. Demarches generally seek to persuade, inform, or gather information from a foreign government.