Tag: Jewish

Israel PM Netanyahu Still Plans To Visit Singapore On Feb 19 And 20

Despite ongoing police investigations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit to Singapore and Australia is “very much still on,” an Australian official said on Wednesday.

Planning for the late February visit is proceeding apace, according to the official.

Netanyahu will be the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Australia – which has given the Jewish state strong diplomatic support for years – as well as to Singapore, with whom Israel has a very robust military relationship.

However, the planned third leg of the trip – a visit to Fiji and participation in a summit of leaders of Pacific island states there – has been canceled, with diplomatic officials saying that adding the Fiji leg would be “too long and too complicated” from a security point of view.

It is well understood in Jerusalem that a cancellation of Netanyahu’s visit to Australia would not be looked upon kindly in Canberra given that three high level visits to the country have been canceled over the last three years.

Netanyahu canceled a planned trip there in 2014 because of Operation Protective Edge; foreign minister Avigdor Liberman then canceled a visit there that same year; and President Reuven Rivlin scratched a trip there last year, opting instead to go to Russia.

It has been made clear to Israel that while there would be some understanding for the cancellation of the trip for a genuine reason, tolerance for these cancellations is eroding. The trip is important for the Australians because it is an acknowledgment and recognition by Israel of the strong political and diplomatic support Australia gives Israel in international forums.

The trip is also deemed as very significant to the Jewish community in the country which wants to feel that its strong support for Israel is not taken for granted.

The current government of Malcolm Turnbull is extremely supportive of Israel and would like the visit to take place on its watch to reap domestic political support from the Jewish community and other pro-Israel supporters in the country.

Australia’s diplomatic support was on display this week when not only did it only send a low-level delegation to the Paris Mideast conference, but it also distanced itself from the conclusions afterward.

A representative of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian presence at the conference “does not mean we agree with every element of the final statement.

“The most important priority must be a resumption of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians for a two-state solution as soon as possible.”

Turnbull was the only world leader, with the exception of Netanyahu, to publicly speak out against UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which was adopted in December, saying it was “one sided” and “deeply unsettling.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to leave Saturday night, February 18, and fly to Singapore, arriving Sunday evening.

He is then slated to spend Monday in Singapore, a reciprocal visit to that made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year, before flying the next day to Sydney.

Netanyahu is scheduled to fly back to Israel on Saturday night, February 25.

During those five days, he also will travel to Melbourne, but not stay there overnight. The bulk of his meetings with government officials will be held in Sydney.

Source: JPost

January 19, 2017
Damanhuri Abas: I Protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s Planned Visit To Singapore

I read with great consternation that Singapore will be hosting the Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu as a state guest.

The Israeli PM is directly responsible for the current continued oppression of the Palestinian people through its illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank as stated by numerous UN resolutions which Israel continuously ignores with the shameful backing of the US government. Its occupying forces conducts numerous crimes against Palestinian civilians and its forces have conducted many agressions in occupied Palestinian territories that are culpable to war crimes, as recent as the last Gaza incursion in 2014 that claims thousands of Palestinian lives through excessive use of powerful bombs on densely populated Palestinian residential areas.

The Singapore government may seem to think that it is acceptable to host the Israeli PM afterall the Israelis are the pioneering country that provided military assistance in terms of training and guidance to the Singapore Armed Forces when Singapore first setup its nascent military defence unit after independence.

It serves as no great solace to know that we had relied on Israeli military advice and guidance in the formation of our Armed Forces. This is especially so as a Malay/Muslim Singaporean who has felt direct discrimination towards his race in the Singapore Armed Forces.

This discrimination has most probably arisen from the advice and guidance of the Israeli military consultants who may have sowed distrust towards the Malay/Muslim citizens serving the Singapore Armed Forces likely rationalized and justified by their own experience and paranoia towards the Palestinan people (and the Arabs too) that they have kept under siege for 60 years encounting with no end to hostility nor nearing any peaceful settlement to the last remaining illegal occupation to exist on God’s earth.

Such inhumane treatment that the Israelis imposed upon the Palestian people in the occupied territories has resulted in extreme distrust between them and the Palestinians and overtime have led to a toxic unsustainable relationship based on fears and suspicion with no end in sight.

Likewise, a toxic relationship too may have emerged in our own land caused by our own policies for the last 50 years that blankets the entire Malay/Muslim population as suspicious and not to be fully trusted to be given full access to all military positions, especially so-called ‘sensitive areas’ in the Singapore Armed Forces. This unjustified and unproven fears that have shaped and colored policies preventing Malay/Muslim citizens full meritocratic access to all possible ranks and files in the military must end immediately.

Only when this happens will the process of correction and rapprochement begin to eradicate the poisoned perceptions that have developed overtime by the majority towards Malay/Muslim trustworthiness in and beyond the Military into other aspects of society. This disriminatory policy must stop for the sake of fairness, justice and a true harmonious multi-racial/multi-religious Singapore that we intend to build for this nation.

For all the above reasons, as a Malay/Muslim Singaporean I protest the coming of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu to my country. He is also an alleged war criminal.

I forward below an email from our very own Dr Ang Swee Chai from Medical Aid for Palestinian, a London based NGO, in support of my involvement in previous protest effort against the brutal acts of the Israeli government towards the Palestinian people that the invited Isreali PM is currently heading.

—— Forwarded message ———-
From: SWEE ANG <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 3:08 AM
Subject: In support of your work
To: “[email protected]” <[email protected]>
Cc: AimeeShalan <[email protected]>, stevenjames <[email protected]>

Dear Damanhuri Abas and FMSA,

Thank you for emailing me so that I can support what you and the Fellowship of Muslim Students Association are doing. As you know a ceasefire is in place after 150 Gazans were killed and nearly a thousand injured. As you know Gaza is half the size of Singapore and home to 1.7 million people, 80% of them refugees from the rest of Palestine. They were forced out from the rest of Palestine in 1948 and took refuge in Gaza. Since 2007 Gaza’s people are under constant military blockade. All her borders with Israel are sealed by the military and none can move in or out, except through Rafah which until recently was also closed by President Mubarak. The sea of Gaza is manned by Israeli warships and no one from Gaza can wander beyond 3 nautical miles. The targetting of fishing boats and killing and injury of fishermen by warships firing at them even with the 3 nautical miles are all too often.

Even before this recent assault, military helicopters regularly fly into Gaza and kill and injure civilians. When you hear the word targets mentioned by the BBC and the Western Press, you do not hear the cries of the mothers who lost their babies, who are sometimes just called collateral damage. The skies of Gaza are patrolled by drones and the whole of Gaza is under surveillance and drone attacks are frequent.

Electricity is scarce, many of the 21,000 homes and buildings destroyed from Cast Lead four years ago not rebuilt since there is also a blockade on building materials. The schools destroyed during Cast Lead are also not rebuilt and children are now crammed into whatever school buildings which are still functional. Many people are still living in tents or in temporary buildings. Unemployment is high since factories and workshops cannot function and even if they function the military siege makes it impossible to export their goods and import raw materials. It is the same with agriculture produce – all forms of trade is made impossible by the blockade. Hospitals are starved of medical supplies.

Water is also a problem in Gaza since Israel has dug deep wells and siphoned off the natural water from Gaza. The water from Gaza now is heavily polluted and contains high nitrates and unfit for washing and drinking.

You can find more facts from various sources including from the website of Medical Aid for Palestinians and Palestine Solidarity Campaign – I have only given you a very sketchy description.

So when F16s bomb Gaza the last 9 days, hitting hundreds of “targets” daily, those of us who know Gaza well can only cry out in shock and anger against this atrocity and injustice. Yet many of us are astonished by the courage of people in Gaza in resisting the assault. The ceasefire is agreed on mainly because Israel knows it cannot beat down Gaza despite pounding it incessantly with bombs. They had planned a land invasion but did not go through with it not because they are humane, but because they know they cannot win and do not have the stomach to go through with it. Hilary Clinton got to turn round from her visit to Burma to fly Cairo to support a truce called by the new Egyptian Government.

Your supporters need to know the following:

Israel is the sixth largest military power in the world. In 2009 it has –

200-300 nuclear warheads
300 F16s
60 military helicopters
60 warships
3650 tanks
Plus daily military aid of eight million dollars from the USA ( as opposed to non-military aid) and the huge support of the Western Press and governments.

Palestine has none of the above. Gaza has home made rockets.

But Palestine has truth on her side. Despite the killing and the suppression of truth, people from all over the world are beginning to find out. And I hope your meeting will help others understand what is going on. Up to 1982, I was the victim of lies against the Palestinians until I went out to work in Sabra and Shatilla. By God’s grace I have seen the truth and may this never depart from me.

I hope one day your Association will have the chance to visit Gaza and West Bank, and meet the people there. But until then take it from me that it is a great honour to be able to support them. For me it is a personal privilege that Medical Aid for Palestinians have been able to be partners to the humanitarian Palestinian institutions in Gaza, West Bank and in Lebanon. I hope your institution will be the same.

Best wishes
Dr Ang Swee Chai.
22 November 2012

Source: Damanhuri Abas

November 1, 2016
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu To Become First Israeli Prime Minister To Visit Singapore

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to become the first sitting Israeli Prime Minister to visit Singapore.

According to a Jerusalem Post report, the 67-year-old announced he would make the trip at a cabinet meeting on Sunday (30 October). It would be a reciprocal visit for the one that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made to Israel in April.

The Republic is one of four countries Netanyahu plans to visit, in addition to Australia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. No exact dates were given.

“Israel’s international relations are spreading in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and many other places,” said Netanyahu. “We realise that this development flows from Israel’s technological and economic strength on one hand, and its security and intelligence capabilities on the other.”

In November 1986, Israeli president Chaim Herzog paid a three-day official visit to Singapore, sparking protests by various political groups in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

According to a Straits Times report from 1986, they urged Singapore to call off Herzog’s visit by taking into account the prevailing sympathy of Muslims in the region towards the Palestinians’ struggle against the Israeli government.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

November 1, 2016
Israeli Anger At UNESCO Motion Condemning Aggressions at Al-Aqsa Mosque

The United Nations cultural and heritage body, Unesco, has condemned Israel’s “escalating aggressions” regarding the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, prompting a furious reaction from Israeli politicians.

A resolution passed on Thursday denied the importance of the site to the Jewish faith by referring to it and the al-Aqsa mosque only by their Muslim names, the politicians said.

The site has been a flashpoint between Muslims and rightwing Jews over the past two years in particular, although tensions in the vicinity stretch back decades.

The resolution was backed by 24 countries, with six opposing it and 26 abstaining. The US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Estonia voted against the resolution; Russia and China were among those backing it.

While affirming the importance of the Old City to all three monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity – the resolution failed to acknowledge Jewish connections to Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, Israel said.

The al-Aqsa mosque – the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina – and the iconic Dome of the Rock stand on a plaza on the eastern edge of the Old City, and are under the control of an Islamic trust called the Waqf.

The Western Wall, below the concourse, is regarded as the holiest spot in Judaism as the last remnant of the temple that once stood there. Jews can visit the plaza above the wall, but are forbidden by law from praying, reciting religious texts or entering Muslim holy sites there.

The resolution said Muslims’ freedom of worship was being curtailed by “escalating aggressions and illegal measures”. It deplored the “continuous storming of al-Aqsa mosque and al-Haram al-Sharif by the Israeli rightwing extremists and uniformed forces … [and] forceful entering by so-called ‘Israeli Antiquities’ officials”.

In March 2015, a leaked EU report said tensions over al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount were partly to blame for a spike in violence, including shootings and stabbings, over the previous six months.

Uri Ariel, a rightwing minister in the Israeli coalition government, called on Israel to respond to the Unesco motion by stepping up activities at the site.

“Especially now, it’s on us as a government to act in defiance of these decisions and to strengthen the Temple Mount and the Jewish presence on the site holiest to the Jewish people – the Temple Mount,” he said in a letter to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Labour party leader, Isaac Herzog, wrote on Facebook: “Unesco betray their mission, and give a bad name to diplomacy and the international institutions. Whoever wants to rewrite history, to distort fact, and to completely invent the fantasy that the Western Wall and Temple Mount have no connection to the Jewish people, is telling a terrible lie that only serves to increase hatred.”

Before the vote, the British Jewish organisation Yachad, which campaigns for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and for a two-state solution, condemned the resolution as “an inflammatory denial of Jewish history” which “serves only to set back the cause of peace in the region by playing into the hands of those on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who see it as a holy war”.

The motion was submitted by the Palestinians supported by Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.

A similar resolution in April passed with 33 votes to six, and was supported by a number of European countries led by France. This time France abstained amid a heavy lobbying campaign by Israel.

Source: www.theguardian.com

October 14, 2016
Noor Mastura: Muslims Must Mirror Prophet Muhammad’s Graciousness Towards Jews

So yesterday i received an interesting phone call. Apparently, one of my previous post on asking if there were any Mosques or places in Singapore which can spare or share their space with a Jewish community (so they can have their sessions) caused an uproar with a number of Muslims.

I cant even begin to express the emotions i felt. An uproar?! The argument, amongst many others was ‘Jews hate us and are our enemies so why would this Muslim girl post such a thing and support them?’

I want to shout ‘backward thinking’ right now but – backward where??? This hate mongering against Jews or any religion for that matter did not exist during the Prophet’s time. Yes there is a verse in the Quran that states “…take not the Jews as your friends..” BUT there is a context as well in which that verse was sent and surely by now everyone who considers him or herself a Muslim will know that the Quran is all about context and you cannot cherry pick verses out of that context and apply them anydamnwhere you please.

‘The Jews want to kill all Muslims’ rhetoric needs to stop. Please tell me what different are you from the people who say ‘All Muslims are terrorist’??? Really. Think about this. How are these 2 rhetorics any different? Oh wait, you have higher ground as a Muslim? Because your religion is The Truth? Well let me share a quote from your beloved Prophet when the Muslims had upper hand in Medina.

“Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim or minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will, I will personally complain against them on the Day of Judgment.”

How’s that for starters? Of course, there is so many more where that came from. And as for Muslims and Jews have always been fighting? And that its always been like that? Where did you get that from? No. This historical lie on a broken record played by haters needs to be destroyed.

The Prophet was the biggest interfaith advocate of his time and i daresay to date. Religious autonomy and the freedom of religious assembly was obligatory for all under his watch. He was adamant that no place of worship be destroyed or harmed. Convenants and constitutions were forged and sealed to ensure these rights.

When 60 Christian delegates from Najran came to his mosque and their time of prayer came, THEY PRAYED IN HIS MOSQUE. (And that is ONE teeny tiny example)

I dont know about you but i have lived in a country where for the longest time our diverse race and religion is something we are proud of. Unfortunately, events around the world and the speed of technology means you have access to so much hate that is going around elsewhere. But dont you dare bring that on my homeground. This is Singapore. This is our turf. And we should do whatever it takes to protect it from hate and ignorance.

When people say evil things about Muslims, you ask them “have you even met a Muslim in your life?? Or speak to one??” And its true. Usually these people who paint the brush on all because of a minor few are those who cant be bothered to step out and meet a Muslim or go to their mosque to actually find out what the hell is going on. No. They sit behind a screen and willingly feed themselves with every news source and hang out with similar minded ignorant experts and assume that has to be it.

Have you met a Jew? Sat with one? Have you met a Jewish father of two beautiful little girls who went for a one month programme in a different country just to seek Muslims to understand about their religion so he could forge a better relationship with them and educate his Jewish community? And while he was on the trip, his youngest girl fell and broke her arm and asked daddy to come home but he had to tell his little girl that he had important work to finish though it broke his heart. I have. I saw it with my own eyes.

These are people who have nothing to do with the war or the politics. People like you and me. You cannot claim to love the teachings of your Prophet if your love is conditional. Or forget love. Maybe that’s too high a level for mere humans like us. But basic humanity? Surely that is not too far off?

We Muslims really need to step up if we are going to continue calling ourselves Muslims and calling Islam a religion of peace. It cant be peaceful if the self appointed gatekeepers are hell bent on choosing who deserves a (FREE)ticket and who doesnt.

I’ll end this rant with my favourite poem by Adam Kelwick and hopefully, it inspires us all to love a little harder.

I sat with a Jew.
Do you feel upset that I sat with a Jew?
And with a Christian, does that unnerve you?
What about an atheist? that angers too?
A gay? An alcoholic? What shall you do?
One sufi here, a shi’a there or two?
With the brotherhood and the salafi crew.

Well let me explain what the Prophet Muhammad would do…
He’d welcome everybody, black, white or blue.
And the house of Islam has big doors, so true.
With invites for them all, not just me and you.
Even if they reject, their rights are still due.
We all need bigger hearts, if only we knew.

Source: Noor Mastura

May 31, 2016