Lawrence Wong on Israel-Hamas conflict
There has been a rise in violent threats against Singapore by regional extremists online since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Regional Internet traffic on extremist sites has gone up three-fold with an uptick in anti-Singapore rhetoric. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong revealed this in Parliament on Monday (Nov 6). He said Singapore had raised its defences to respond to terror attacks ever since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and this gains greater salience in the current situation. Noting that the Workers’ Party (WP) has clarified its stance on Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel after calling it a “military operation” rather than a “terrorist act” in an earlier statement, he suggested that WP update its social media platform to reflect this position so that there is “no ambiguity about the matter whatsoever”. This is not nitpicking, he said, but “a key point of principle because national security is at stake”. Mr Wong told the House it is in Singapore’s national interest to condemn terrorist acts unequivocally, as to compromise on this would be to compromise its own security. He emphasised two points. First - the Palestinian people have many historical grievances that Singapore empathises with, but there can be no justification for Hamas’ actions on Oct 7 this year. Second - at the same time, “no matter how gruesome” Hamas’ acts, they cannot justify a disproportionate response by Israel that imposes collective punishment on the Palestinians in Gaza.
There has been a rise in violent threats against Singapore by regional extremists online since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Regional Internet traffic on extremist sites has gone up three-fold with an uptick in anti-Singapore rhetoric. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong revealed this in Parliament on Monday (Nov 6). He said Singapore had raised its defences to respond to terror attacks ever since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and this gains greater salience in the current situation. Noting that the Workers’ Party (WP) has clarified its stance on Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel after calling it a “military operation” rather than a “terrorist act” in an earlier statement, he suggested that WP update its social media platform to reflect this position so that there is “no ambiguity about the matter whatsoever”. This is not nitpicking, he said, but “a key point of principle because national security is at stake”. Mr Wong told the House it is in Singapore’s national interest to condemn terrorist acts unequivocally, as to compromise on this would be to compromise its own security. He emphasised two points. First - the Palestinian people have many historical grievances that Singapore empathises with, but there can be no justification for Hamas’ actions on Oct 7 this year. Second - at the same time, “no matter how gruesome” Hamas’ acts, they cannot justify a disproportionate response by Israel that imposes collective punishment on the Palestinians in Gaza.
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