US academic Bruce Gilley says he has refused reimbursement from Universiti Malaya, instead launching a fundraising campaign to cover his expenses. (National Association of Scholars YouTube pic)

PETALING JAYA:

A US academic who sparked backlash for purportedly claiming at a Universiti Malaya (UM) talk that Malaysia was pushing for a “second Holocaust against the Jewish people” has hit out at the government and declared the country unsafe for travel.

Bruce Gilley, a professor of political science at Portland State University, said he had left Malaysia due to safety concerns caused by an “Islamo-fascist mob whipped up by the government there”.

“This is not a safe country to travel to now,” he said in a post on X.

In a separate post, Gilley said he had also declined reimbursement from UM for travel and lodging expenses “as a result of its disgraceful behaviour and that of the Malaysian government”.

Instead, he has launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to cover costs totalling US$2,346 (RM11,222).

In the campaign’s GoFundMe page, Gilley claimed he was forced to leave Malaysia after criticising the country’s stance against Israel during a keynote address at Universiti Malaya.

He said the “disgraceful behaviour” of the university in cancelling his visiting professorship meant his flight and hotel costs would not be covered.

“This is an open and proud request for public support to defray these costs, totalling US$2,346,” he wrote on GoFundMe.

Earlier today, the academic expressed regret for the harm caused by a post he had made containing a quote from his talk titled “Will Malaysia Become an Active Middle Power” at UM on Tuesday afternoon. He has since taken down the post.

In the talk, Gilley was also said to have played down Malaysia’s ties with the US.

“‘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,’ from my keynote address yesterday in KL on Malaysian foreign policy,” he wrote in his post on X yesterday.

“This has been a long-standing vice of Malaysian politicians going back to (former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s) advice to learn from the Germans on how to kill Jews.

“Most explicitly, in October, agriculture (and food security) minister Mohamad Sabu promised a rally that ‘Israel will soon disappear’,” he added.

Following Gilley’s statements, higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir ordered the immediate cancellation of all programmes and activities involving the academic.

Gilley had been scheduled to give three talks at UM as a visiting professor.

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Malaysia ‘not safe for travel now’, claims Gilley after UM storm

Bruce Gilley says he has left Malaysia, citing safety concerns, and criticises the government following backlash over remarks made during a talk at Universiti Malaya.