Asia

“We protect local Jews from the consequences of war”

Statements by Shanmugam at an event organized on the eve of the Jewish Passover. Last month, he had a post from the Israeli embassy that threatened to stoke tensions removed from his Facebook page. “We are a multicultural place where both Jews and Muslims have a significant presence.”

Singapore () – Singapore wants to protect and keep the local Jewish community safe from the consequences of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. This was stated by the Minister of Home Affairs and Justice, K Shanmugam, on April 11, when speaking at an Easter Eve celebration organized by the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) at the Jacob Ballas Center on Waterloo Street.

“Our fundamental objective, the fundamental duty of the government, is to maintain law and order, protecting everyone. This is our first commitment,” Shanmugam explained. The minister recalled that the Jewish community has a very long history in Singapore and is a dynamic and integral part of society. “The community has played a vital role in building Singapore over the years and continues to do so strongly today,” he said.

Last month, the Singapore government ordered the local Israeli embassy to remove a Facebook post comparing references to Israel and Palestine in the Quran, which was deemed “totally unacceptable.” The message from the Israeli embassy said: “Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran. Palestine is not mentioned even once. Each and every archaeological evidence – maps, documents, coins – links the land of Israel to the Jewish people as the indigenous people of the land”.

Referring to that post, Shanmugam explained that this way of framing the issue “risks inflaming tensions, may undermine the peace and harmony we enjoy in Singapore, and may even endanger the Jewish community here if anger extends to the physical plane.”

In turn, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Singapore said that the post had been published without permission and that the person responsible had been sanctioned. “The Israeli embassy respects religion and harmony between communities in Singapore,” the spokesperson added.

“We are a multicultural and diverse place in terms of religions, backgrounds and ethnicities,” Shanmugam further commented at the Easter event, “and even in Singapore we have felt some repercussions from the ongoing war in Gaza. But fortunately the level of tension here is less than in other places.”

“We are clearly committed to protecting all our minorities,” the minister added, “which, in the context of Singapore, includes the Muslim and Jewish communities. We firmly oppose any expression of violence and, of course, any open violence. Our relationship with Israel, since our founding, has been very strong, he continued, but this does not prevent us from taking a principled stance on the actions of the various actors in the Middle East, at any time. And the recent actions of Israel have been a cause of concern… not only for us, but for many in the international community, including the United States. But our task is very clear: we want to isolate and protect our Jewish community from these impacts, to the extent possible. possible.”



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