Israeli Embassy’s social media post on Palestine stirs outrage in Singapore

Israeli Embassy’s social media post on Palestine stirs outrage in Singapore
Home Minister K. Shanmugam speaks to reporters in Singapore on March 25, 2024 about the government’s intervention following an inflammatory social media post by Israel’s embassy. (Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs)
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Updated 26 March 2024
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Israeli Embassy’s social media post on Palestine stirs outrage in Singapore

Israeli Embassy’s social media post on Palestine stirs outrage in Singapore
  • Singaporean Home Minister says the post was an ‘astonishing attempt to re-write history’
  • In December, South Korea objected to ‘inappropriate’ footage posted by Israeli Embassy in Seoul

SINGAPORE: An Israeli Embassy post on Palestine has stirred outrage in Singapore, with three ministers accusing it of inflaming tensions and disrespecting the city state’s multicultural society.

Israel’s mission published on its Facebook account on Sunday the post that compared mentions of Israel and Palestine in the Qur’an and claimed there was more evidence of the existence of the Jewish state in Palestinian land rather than Palestine.

The post was deleted the same day after Singapore’s Home Minister K. Shanmugam said it was an “astonishing attempt to re-write history” that was “wrong at many levels,” and “unacceptable from the perspective of safety and security” in Singapore.

“It is wrong to selectively point to religious texts to make a political point. Even worse, in this current situation, for (the) Israeli Embassy to make use of the Qur’an for this purpose,” Shanmugam told reporters on Monday.

“The writer of the post should look at UN resolutions, see if Israel’s actions in the past few decades have been consistent with international law, before trying to re-write history.”

A multicultural and multireligious state, Singapore has a significant Muslim minority, accounting for approximately 16 percent of its 6 million population.

“(We) made our views very clear to the Israeli Embassy because it is unacceptable from the perspective of safety and security in Singapore,” Shanmugam said.

“It carries a risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore.”

Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, who is also the minister in charge of Muslim affairs, issued a statement saying that the embassy’s post touched on a sensitive matter to both Singaporeans and Muslims.

“It was insensitive and disrespectful and goes against the spirit of mutual respect and understanding that we have worked so hard to build up in Singapore over the years. Nobody should make interpretations that are offensive to another people’s faith, especially selectively using their sacred texts, to make political points,” he said.

“Whether one is a Singaporean or foreigner in Singapore, we must not do or say anything that disrupts the social harmony that is so precious to us in Singapore. Such insensitive and inappropriate messages can cause hurt, and sow distrust amongst different communities in Singapore.”

The post was removed upon intervention from the foreign ministry.

“We communicated to them (that it was) highly inappropriate to make references to sacred texts in order to score political points,” Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told reporters.

“Bear in mind the fact that we are in Singapore. In Singapore, we do things differently. With all due respect to foreign countries, we think that on the management of race, language and religion, for what it is worth, … we are a positive example.”

Maryam Ismail, analyst at Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies, explained that Singapore prioritized social harmony and that inflammatory messaging was not accepted.

“The Israeli Embassy personnel that uploaded the Facebook post clearly overlooked this reality, which is not something that they would have to take into account when talking about the Israel-Palestine issue back home and in Israeli online spaces,” she said.

“I think the Singaporean Law and Home Affairs Ministry’s rebuke was judicious.”

It is very rare, however, for Singaporean authorities to intervene in the conduct of foreign missions, including their social media activity.

“As a manner of principle, foreign embassies in Singapore are free to post on Facebook as long as they do not violate Singapore’s laws, and rules and regulations. I am not aware of other embassies having been in the position where they were requested to take down a post,” James Dorsey, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told Arab News.

“Singapore’s government is concerned about communal harmony in Singapore; that has always been a major policy pillar.”

It is not the first time that the Israeli Embassy has stirred up controversy in Asia.

In December, Tel Aviv’s mission in South Korea deleted a video it posted on social media channels after concerns raised by the South Korean government, which said the footage was “inappropriate.”

The video — produced by the embassy — showed an imaginary attack on Seoul by assailants it seemed to liken to Palestinian fighters.


DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania

DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania
Updated 18 sec ago
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DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania

DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania
  • The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane
VILNIUS: A DHL cargo plane crashed Monday morning near the Lithuanian capital.
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.”
It posted on the social platform X that city services including a fire truck were on site.
DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.

UN chief slams land mine threat days after US decision to supply Ukraine

UN chief slams land mine threat days after US decision to supply Ukraine
Updated 37 min 21 sec ago
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UN chief slams land mine threat days after US decision to supply Ukraine

UN chief slams land mine threat days after US decision to supply Ukraine
  • The outgoing US administration is aiming to give Ukraine an upper hand before President-elect Donald Trump enters office
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the mines ‘very important’ to halting Russian attacks

SIEM REAP, Cambodia: The UN Secretary-General on Monday slammed the “renewed threat” of anti-personnel land mines, days after the United States said it would supply the weapons to Ukrainian forces battling Russia’s invasion.
In remarks sent to a conference in Cambodia to review progress on the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, UN chief Antonio Guterres hailed the work of clearing and destroying land mines across the world.
“But the threat remains. This includes the renewed use of anti-personnel mines by some of the Parties to the Convention, as well as some Parties falling behind in their commitments to destroy these weapons,” he said in the statement.
He called on the 164 signatories — which include Ukraine but not Russia or the United States — to “meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the Convention.”
Guterres’ remarks were delivered by UN Under-Secretary General Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.
AFP has contacted her office and a spokesman for Guterres to ask if the remarks were directed specifically at Ukraine.
The Ukrainian team at the conference did not respond to AFP questions about the US land mine supplies.
Washington’s announcement last week that it would send anti-personnel land mines to Kyiv was immediately criticized by human rights campaigners.
The outgoing US administration is aiming to give Ukraine an upper hand before President-elect Donald Trump enters office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the mines “very important” to halting Russian attacks.
The conference is being held in Cambodia, which was left one of the most heavily bombed and mined countries in the world after three decades of civil war from the 1960s.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told the conference his country still needs to clear over 1,600 square kilometers (618 square miles) of contaminated land that is affecting the lives of more than one million people.
Around 20,000 people have been killed in Cambodia by land mines and unexploded ordnance since 1979, and twice as many have been injured.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said on Wednesday that at least 5,757 people had been casualties of land mines and explosive remnants of war across the world last year, 1,983 of whom were killed.
Civilians made up 84 percent of all recorded casualties, it said.


Philippines’ Marcos says threat of assassination ‘troubling’

Philippines’ Marcos says threat of assassination ‘troubling’
Updated 58 min 46 sec ago
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Philippines’ Marcos says threat of assassination ‘troubling’

Philippines’ Marcos says threat of assassination ‘troubling’
  • Security agencies at the weekend said they would step up their protocols

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said on Monday he will not take lightly “troubling” threats against him, just days after his estranged vice president said she had asked someone to assassinate the president if she herself was killed.
In a video message during which he did not name Vice President Sara Duterte, his former running mate, Marcos said “such criminal plans should not be overlooked.”
Security agencies at the weekend said they would step up their protocols and investigate the statement, which Duterte made at a press conference. The vice president’s office has acknowledged a Reuters request for comment.


An average of 140 women and girls were killed by a partner or relative per day in 2023, the UN says

An average of 140 women and girls were killed by a partner or relative per day in 2023, the UN says
Updated 45 min 12 sec ago
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An average of 140 women and girls were killed by a partner or relative per day in 2023, the UN says

An average of 140 women and girls were killed by a partner or relative per day in 2023, the UN says
  • The agencies reported approximately 51,100 women and girls were killed in 2023
  • The rates were highest in Africa and the Americas and lowest in Asia and Europe

UNITED NATIONS: The deadliest place for women is at home and 140 women and girls on average were killed by an intimate partner or family member per day last year, two UN agencies reported Monday.
Globally, an intimate partner or family member was responsible for the deaths of approximately 51,100 women and girls during 2023, an increase from an estimated 48,800 victims in 2022, UN Women and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime said.
The report released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women said the increase was largely the result of more data being available from countries and not more killings.
But the two agencies stressed that “Women and girls everywhere continue to be affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence and no region is excluded.” And they said, “the home is the most dangerous place for women and girls.”
The highest number of intimate partner and family killings was in Africa – with an estimated 21,700 victims in 2023, the report said. Africa also had the highest number of victims relative to the size of its population — 2.9 victims per 100,000 people.
There were also high rates last year in the Americas with 1.6 female victims per 100,000 and in Oceania with 1.5 per 100,000, it said. Rates were significantly lower in Asia at 0.8 victims per 100,000 and Europe at 0.6 per 100,000.
According to the report, the intentional killing of women in the private sphere in Europe and the Americas is largely by intimate partners.
By contrast, the vast majority of male homicides take place outside homes and families, it said.
“Even though men and boys account for the vast majority of homicide victims, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by lethal violence in the private sphere,” the report said.
“An estimated 80 percent of all homicide victims in 2023 were men while 20 percent were women, but lethal violence within the family takes a much higher toll on women than men, with almost 60 percent of all women who were intentionally killed in 2023 being victims of intimate partner/family member homicide,” it said.
The report said that despite efforts to prevent the killing of women and girls by countries, their killings “remain at alarmingly high levels.”
“They are often the culmination of repeated episodes of gender-based violence, which means they are preventable through timely and effective interventions,” the two agencies said.


Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region

Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region
Updated 25 November 2024
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Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region

Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region

Russia’s air defense systems destroyed seven Ukrainian missiles overnight over the Kursk region, governor of the Russian region that borders Ukraine said on Monday.
He said that air defense units also destroyed seven Ukrainian drones. He did not provide further details.
A pro-Russian military analyst Roman Alyokhin, who serves as an adviser to the governor, said on his Telegram messaging channel that “Kursk was subjected to a massive attack by foreign-made missiles” overnight.