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Why Singapore is \u2018friend of all, enemy of none\u2019 in Israel-Gaza war | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n
Singapore<\/strong> \u2013 Since the war erupted in Gaza, the tiny Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore has taken a stance of non-interference, reflecting a long-held foreign policy focused on being a \u201cfriend to all and enemy to none\u201d.<\/p>\n At a special parliamentary session earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong explained that Singapore\u2019s \u201clongstanding support for a two-state solution remains unchanged\u201d, in that Palestinian people have the right to a homeland and that Israel has the right to live within secure borders, he added.<\/p>\n Singapore \u201cconsistently takes a principled position\u201d in line with international law and support of global peace and security, Wong stressed.<\/p>\n The country has come out strongly to condemn Hamas\u2019s October 7 assault on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 200 taken captive, as \u201cacts of terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n But it has also condemned the rising death toll in Gaza, with the foreign ministry saying on Friday that it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave where more than 13,000 people have been killed since Israel\u2019s bombardment began.<\/p>\n In late October, Singapore was among the 120 countries voting in favour of a resolution to protect civilians and uphold legal and humanitarian obligations\u00a0during an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n Singapore\u2019s approach is \u201cpremised on the faithful observance of international law, especially the independence and sovereignty of nation-states,\u201d said political analyst and Singapore Management University (SMU) associate law professor Eugene Tan.<\/p>\n Tan told Al Jazeera there was \u201cno contradiction\u201d in Singaporeans empathising with the plight of the Palestinians and taking the stance that the attacks on Israel cannot be justified.<\/p>\n At the same time, it is \u201calso possible to support Israel\u2019s right to defend itself and for Israel to avail itself of the use of force to protect its legitimate interests but also demand that Israel\u2019s response must be consistent with the rules and requirements of public international law so that the safety, security and wellbeing of civilians are safeguarded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the debate in parliament demonstrated is that Singaporeans can hold very strong views on the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East region and yet come to a consensus on how Singapore and Singaporeans should respond\u2026 In short, Singapore firmly believes that Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace, security and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, unlike many countries around the world, there have been no public protests in favour of either the Palestinians or Israel in Singapore.<\/p>\n Singapore \u2013 with a mostly ethnic Chinese population but also with a sizeable ethnic Malay-Muslim minority as well as ethnic Indians \u2013 has long prioritised preserving social cohesion and religious harmony.<\/p>\n The city-state came into being on August 9, 1965, after it separated from Malaysia, forming \u201cthe backdrop to Singapore\u2019s commitment on the right to self-determination in accordance with international law\u201d, said Tan.<\/p>\n Given \u201cheightened sensitivities\u201d surrounding the latest conflict, the Singapore government, which allows protests only by citizens and only in the\u00a0 so-called \u201cSpeakers\u2019 Corner\u201d in the city centre, has argued that strong preemptive measures are necessary to manage the situation, citing the risk to public safety as well as security concerns.<\/p>\n Authorities rejected five applications to use the Speakers\u2019 Corner for events related to the Israel-Hamas war in October, despite having allowed rallies during a previous war in 2014. It has also warned against the public display of foreign national emblems relating to the conflict and told people to be careful about supporting fundraising activities.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hunch is that the current situation is a lot more sensitive and emotive than in 2014, and it involves terrorist acts by Hamas,\u201d Tan said. \u201cI would say it is more a case of not importing foreign issues that will only create social divisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Singaporean community organiser Zaris Azira was feeling helpless watching the news about Gaza on her phone, when she came across a video of thousands of Malaysians chanting for Palestine in their football stadium.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old felt motivated to do something more.<\/p>\n Azira applied for a permit to organise a rally at the Speakers\u2019 Corner and found that \u201cinterest exploded\u201d, with 740 people registering their interest to attend in less than a day. She also released a petition for Singaporeans to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, drafted in consultation with local political observer Walid J Abdullah. As of November 20, it had 26,280 signatures.<\/p>\n Expressing disappointment at the rejection of her application, Azira said she was not surprised, given Singapore is \u201cgenerally quite risk-averse as a nation, and I understand the desire to avoid any situation that could potentially spiral out of hand\u201d.<\/p>\n Singaporean activism has tended to the more subtle.<\/p>\n On social media, people have joined campaigns such as the #freewatermelontoday campaign or the #weargreenforpalestine movement.<\/p>\n An underground movement also emerged for people to show up at the Raffles Place MRT train station in green and say a prayer for Palestine, while others have taken pictures with a watermelon slice, which has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.<\/p>\n \u201cMore and more, people want to show their solidarity with the people of Palestine, who are going through such unspeakable horrors on a daily basis. Singaporeans need an outlet to demonstrate safely, legally and powerfully,\u201d Azira said.<\/p>\n Local journalist and activist Kirsten Han expressed similar views in her newsletter We The Citizens, arguing that clamping down on freedom of expression and assembly would affect Singaporeans\u2019 ability to participate in nuanced and important conversations.<\/p>\n Calling the warnings and restrictions \u201cinfantilising\u201d, she said: \u201cWe need civil society involvement, well-facilitated discussions, opportunities to educate ourselves and organise in non-violent ways for justice and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Han added that the ability to be together in a physical space can \u201calso be incredibly powerful in helping people process the devastation we\u2019re seeing in the news every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n In contrast, SMU\u2019s Tan argues that the authorities\u2019 move was prudent because of the potential for such actions to \u201cdetrimentally affect our hard-earned social cohesion and harmony\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cProtests make for good social media posts and rabble-rousing but will not move the needle on the conflict,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the absence of public protests, Singaporean civil society and faith communities have instead devoted their efforts to organising humanitarian aid for Gaza.<\/p>\n As of November 14, about 6 million Singapore dollars ($4.5m) have been donated by the public through the non-profit Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF). Elsewhere, disaster relief organisation Relief Singapore has put out an urgent call for blankets, receiving about 2,500 to date. The blankets will be sent to the Gaza Strip, where winter temperatures can drop as low as 13C (55.4F).<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we are aware of the politics involved in the conflict, our focus is on the most pressing humanitarian needs,\u201d said Relief Singapore director Jonathan How. \u201cWe know the vulnerable may die of cold as winter approaches in a city that looks more like an earthquake zone. We hope that more people will step up to lend their support in this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Singapore has key national security priorities linked directly to stable relations with its closest neighbours, according to Arvind Rajanthran, an associate research fellow with the National Security Studies Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.<\/p>\n Its next-door neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia have \u201cMalay-Muslim majorities that frequently experience more politically charged atmospherics from the antagonism between the Israelis and Palestinians\u201d, said Rajanthran. Both countries have seen large demonstrations in support of Gaza.<\/p>\n So, it was significant that at the 10th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders\u2019 Retreat held on\u00a0 October 30, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed that their different diplomatic positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not affect the bilateral relationship, Rajanthran pointed out.<\/p>\n Singapore\u2019s \u201cfriend to all\u201d approach to foreign policy appears to have allowed it to establish longstanding good relations with both Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n The government has committed substantial technical assistance and support to the Palestinian Authority, which controls the occupied West Bank, over the years, and will continue to do so, Deputy Prime Minister Wong said in parliament.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Israel helped build up the Singapore Armed Forces during Singapore\u2019s early years and Singapore continues to cooperate closely with the country in many areas, including in science and technology, he said.<\/p>\n In his speech to parliament, Wong said regional internet traffic on hardline sites had increased threefold since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have also observed an uptick in anti-Singapore rhetoric, including violent threats against Singapore by regional extremist elements online,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have also increased.<\/p>\n In October, police received eight reports of offensive remarks or actions targeted at Jewish or Muslim people in Singapore, Wong noted. This was equal to the total number of reports on anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim conduct that police received from January to September.<\/p>\n Being a small state, Singapore has \u201clittle choice\u201d but to continue its policy of non-state interference, said political scientist Antonio Rappa, an associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).<\/p>\n To take the side of Israel would risk antagonising Singapore\u2019s local Muslim community unnecessarily, while supporting Palestine would betray Israel \u2013 an \u201cunwritten ally\u201d of Singapore since the days of its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, said Rappa, who is head of the security studies programme at SUSS\u2019s business school.<\/p>\n Singapore has had close diplomatic ties with Israel since its independence in 1965, while Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have no formal diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n On the strict controls taken by the government to clamp down on public rallies, Rappa explained that Singapore has been operating within a climate of fear for decades.<\/p>\n Pointing to the idea of a garrison state, Singapore still has a \u201cfortress-like\u201d mentality that persists today, especially as a Chinese-majority nation surrounded by larger mostly-Muslim countries, which might \u201ccreate a certain degree of tension\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cStill, it is not wise for us to bring in other people\u2019s problems and import it into our country and create tensions within the population. We don\u2019t want animosity and chaos created for Singapore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>\u2018Generally risk averse\u2019<\/h2>\n
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