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.
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.
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.
AMMAN, JORDAN – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong begins his official visit to Jordan on Saturday (April 16).
He will then travel to Israel on Monday, and to the Palestinian Territories on Wednesday.
This is Mr Lee’s first official visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday.
“The visit will affirm Singapore’s good relations with Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, and underscore Singapore’s commitment to support the capacity building efforts of the Palestinian people,” the statement added.
While in Jordan, Mr Lee will be hosted to lunch by King Abdullah II. He will meet Prime Minister and Defence Minister Abdullah Ensour, who will also host him to dinner.
Mr Lee will also meet Chief Advisor for Religious and Cultural Affairs Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad Bin Talal. He will also meet Singapore students studying in Jordan.
In Israel, Mr Lee will call on President Reuven Rivlin and meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He will also meet Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog and former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres.
In addition, Mr Lee will meet leaders of major Israeli technology companies and visit the Hebrew University, where he will receive an honorary doctorate.
He will also witness the signing of an agreement between Hebrew University and Singapore’s National Research Foundation to facilitate research collaboration in Singapore.
In the Palestinian Territories, Mr Lee will meet Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Rami Hamdallah, who will host him to lunch.
Mr Lee will also lay a wreath at the mausoleum of the first President of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat.
PM Lee will be accompanied by Mrs Lee, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of State for Communications and Information and Education Janil Puthucheary, and MPs Liang Eng Hwa and Intan Azura Mokhtar.
During Mr Lee’s absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be the Acting Prime Minister.
