Protesters burn Israeli flag
Protesters burn Israeli flagReuters

Reports have surfaced that a Malaysian hairdresser in Seremban requires his customers to step on an Israeli flag, serving as a doormat, upon entering his hair salon. 

The barbershop in southeast Malaysia called "Hair Styles for Men" offers its customers a variety of special and unusual haircuts, provided they must step on a rug in the form of the Israeli flag. 

Local media claims they have been unable to determine the barber's motives.

However, this is not the first time such an incident has happened in Malaysia. Malaysian news site, The Star, reported in August that dozens of Malaysians "are beginning to show their rage against the Israeli regime by stepping on their flag for its attack on Gaza."

In Malacca, a couple laid two Israeli flags on the ground for them and their guests to step on during the wedding reception, demonstrating their "displeasure towards the killings of innocent lives."

"This is the least we could do as Malaysians to show our rage against the Zionist regime who have killed thousands of innocent lives. The flags are only good to be stepped on," the bride said. 

The two flags were set on fire after the ceremony, where 3000 guests took the opportunity to trample them. 

Despite the strong anti-Israel sentiment, there are not many outward acts of anti-Semitism in Malaysia - although that may be because the country does not have a Jewish community. 

One case that caught headlines in 2003, however, was a statement by a former prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, who attacked Jews in his retirement speech, saying, "the suffering of Jewish people in the past is not a sufficient reason to steal Arab land and persecute Muslims." 

Two weeks before that, Mohamad said, "Jews should be forbidden from thinking they are the chosen people, because then it is impossible to criticize them." 

According to the Anti-Defamation League's global survey on anti-Semitism in May, Malaysia is ranked 19th out of 102 countries for holding anti-Semitic viewpoints. 

Sixty-one percent of Malaysians admitted to harboring prejudices against Jews, with Muslim anti-Semitism rates at 83 percent and Buddhist anti-Semitism rates at 34 percent.