‘Do you want a boycott?’: Malaysia’s top mall rolls dice with flag ban

Malaysia’s most famous shopping centre edged closer to a damaging boycott after threatening to throw out a second group of pro-Palestine protesters carrying flags, prompting calls for a mass gathering inside the plaza after Friday prayers.

The management of Suria KLCC shopping arcade – at the bottom of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur – made headlines after a scuffle broke out on Sunday between security and pro-Palestinian supporters who entered the venue at the end of a rally.

The protesters were later forcibly removed from the shopping mecca, as security said the flagpole they were carrying posed a threat to other patrons.

On Wednesday night, a group of 10 youths sought to test the claim by walking into KLCC with just the flags, carried over their shoulders, but was similarly stopped by security guards who told the patrons to take off the banners or be ejected.

The issue can be incendiary in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where public sentiment is overwhelmingly behind the Palestinian cause.

Videos of the verbal altercation spread on social media, with people decrying KLCC for refusing to allow in visitors with the Palestinian symbol.