Israel's Embassy in Singapore cites Quran in futile bid to defend Jewish settlements, attacks on Gaza

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Israel's Embassy in Singapore removed a controversial post from its social media account in which it attempted to justify Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands and the ongoing attacks on Gaza, which have already claimed the lives of over 32,000 people, by citing the fact that Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran but Palestine is not mentioned once.

The post was made on the Israeli Embassy's official Facebook page on Sunday and removed the same evening, local daily The Straits Times reported.

According to the post, Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran but Palestine is not mentioned once, and archaeological evidence suggests that the Jewish people are the land's indigenous people.

Condemning the post, Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Monday called it “completely unacceptable,” saying he was "very upset" when he learned about it.

Shanmugam told reporters that the Ministry of Home Affairs had asked for the post to be taken down and “made our views very clear to the Israeli embassy because it is unacceptable from the perspective of safety and security in Singapore."

“We told them to take it down because of the potential consequences for the different communities within Singapore,” he maintained

Shanmugam observed that the post is incorrect on multiple levels.

"First, it is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore," he said.

“Second, 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 Quran for this purpose."

Third, he added, this post is an "astonishing attempt to rewrite history.”

Shanmugam added that Singapore looks after the safety and security of its citizens, including minorities such as Muslims and Jews.

He said there is a vibrant Jewish community here, and that such posts can inflame tensions, putting the Jewish community at risk if the anger from the online post spills over into the physical realm.

He said the Singapore government generally does not intervene as embassies represent sovereign countries with autonomy, “but where it affects the safety and security of people in Singapore, the peace and harmony that we enjoy, we do and we will intervene.”

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

Earlier, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan condemned the post as "highly inappropriate."

“It is highly inappropriate to refer to sacred texts to make political points. We have made this clear to the embassy, which has taken the post down,” he said in a statement.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since a cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.