McDonald's Malaysia has sued the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for "false and defamatory statements" that it says hurt its business and is seeking damages amounting to $1.31 million, Reuters reported Saturday.
Gerbang Alaf Restaurants, which is the licensee of McDonald's in Malaysia, said it is suing the BDS Malaysia movement for a series of social media postings allegedly linking the fast-food franchise, among other companies, to Israel's "genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza".
According to a writ of summons dated December 19 and seen by Reuters, Gerbang Alaf Restaurants alleged that BDS Malaysia incited the public to boycott McDonald's Malaysia, which led to a loss of profit and job cuts, among other damages, due to closures and shortened operating hours of its outlets.
McDonald's Malaysia confirmed it filed the suit against BDS Malaysia to protect its "rights and interests".
BDS Malaysia said in response it "categorically denies" defaming the fast-food company and would leave the matter to the court.
Malaysia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. Earlier this month, in fact, a Malaysian citizen was arrested after posting a video to social media in which he called for peace with Israel.
More recently, Malaysia banned Israeli-flagged cargo ships from docking at its ports in response to Israel's actions in Gaza, which it said ignores "basic humanitarian principles".
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement that ships on their way to Israel will also be barred from loading cargo at any port in Malaysia, effective immediately. He singled out Israel's biggest shipping firm ZIM.
The country’s former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, is notorious for his controversial statements against Israel and the Jewish people. In 2012, he wrote on his personal blog that “Jews rule this world by proxy.”
In August of 2018, Mahathir defended his right to be antisemitic, arguing that antisemitism is an artificial construct created to silence critics of the Jews.
In October that year, he said that Jews are "hook-nosed" and accused them of creating problems in the Middle East.
In June of 2019, he unleashed a stream of antisemitic statements during an appearance at Cambridge University.