It seems that we have a new entry to the Blockout 2024 list. Actor Azhar Sulaiman is known to always speak his mind but his most recent post on Instagram regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine garnered major backlash. In his (now-deleted) post, the actor accused Hamas of starting the “war” after the attack on Israel in October 2023 despite Palestine having been occupied and ethnically cleansed by the state since 1948.
Besides that, the 52-year-old condemned celebrities supporting Hamas for wanting to reclaim their land by sarcastically suggesting that they should move to Gaza and fight alongside them. Obviously, this did not sit well with netizens who have been flooding the public figure’s comments section and even dragged his daughter Kasih Iris Leona to speak out about it.
After her father’s post went viral, the influencer took to Twitter to address everyone’s concerns and clarified her stance on the crisis. In her thread, Leona said, “My father’s opinions do not reflect mine in ANY way and I am strongly against Israel and the genocide that is happening in Palestine. We do not see eye to eye on many things and I fail to understand the way he thinks. So please don’t generalise and assume that just because we are blood-related, we will have the same views.”
The 22-year-old also recalled her experience of visiting Palestine and assured everyone that she has always been well aware of the atrocities being committed by the Israeli state. Shortly after making her statement, netizens applauded the influencer for challenging her father’s controversial political stance. Many came to her defence saying that children would often have different views on certain world issues than their parents.
At the time of writing, Azhar Sulaiman has yet to apologise for his controversial post on Instagram nor has he responded to his daughter’s statement. Whatever the case, it’s clear that these two will have a lot to discuss the next time they meet.
