Photo: Malay Mail

Not too long ago, a graduate made headlines when he raised a solo protest during his convocation in one of our local universities.

Once again, a graduate has come under fire when he uploaded a picture of himself on Facebook holding up a Nazi salute on the graduation stage.

In the caption accompanying the photo, he sang praises about former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler - a man we all know for the systemic extermination of over six million people during World War Two. Mostly Jews were targeted in the horrific nightmare.

The graduate explained that he was merely showing support for Palestine’s fight against Israel.

Photo: DW

“This Hitler symbol that I hold up on the sacred UMS stage is because the world is blind and deaf when Jews rule as if Islamic countries are clowns for the world’s entertainment. Therefore, in solidarity with Gaza and because of anger, hatred and vengeance towards Jews, I thank Hitler for the Holocaust,” he wrote in Malay, accompanied by the hashtags #SaveGaza and #Pray4Palestine.

The post quickly made its rounds on social media, with many criticising his behaviour. 

Twitter user Putri N. Balqis @ayypueri expressed her disbelief, and called it “mental acrobatics” - pretty apt. 

#TIL Ada UMS grad buat 'Hail Hitler' on stage sebab solidariti for Palestine. Katanya dia berterima kasih sebab Holocaust dan benci tengok dunia 'jadi buta dan bisu bila Yahudi bermaharajalela'.

The mental acrobatics ah I'm telling you, Farah Ann pun surrender beb

— Puteri N. Balqis 🇲🇾🌺 (@ayyputeri) November 25, 2019

Meanwhile, Twitter user Shafiqah Othman made a solid point, highlighting the fact that as a Malay, the graduate would be in the same position as the Jews anyway should the Nazis still be in power. 

Hitler-praising Muslims always seem to forget that if we had lived under Nazi leadership, we would probably have been persecuted as well. https://t.co/5cZvoi6SVr pic.twitter.com/Cw9nGLFmfG

— Shafiqah Othman (@sfqomhz) November 25, 2019

As of yesterday, the graduate’s post was removed from Facebook after reports were made for violating Facebook Community Standards (unfortunately, there are still screenshots of it going around).

The graduate later posted that he was simply joking in the original post. Not the funniest joke though, is it?

What are your thoughts?