Israeli embassy told to take down 'completely unacceptable' Facebook post on Palestine: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government has told the Israeli embassy here to take down a "completely unacceptable" Facebook post on Palestine, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

On Sunday (Mar 24), the official Facebook account of the Israeli embassy published a post containing claims comparing mentions of Israel and Palestine in the Quran.

The post said: "Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran. On the other hand, Palestine is not mentioned even once.

"Each and every archeological evidence – maps, documents, coins, link the land of Israel to the Jewish people as the indigenous people of the land."

The post was deleted later the same day.

Mr Shanmugam told reporters on Monday he was "very upset" when he became aware of the post.

He said the Home Affairs Ministry informed the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which told the Israeli embassy that the post had to be taken down immediately.

"The post is wrong at many levels," Mr Shanmugam said. "First, it is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore.

“We look after the safety of everyone in Singapore – majority and minorities" including Jews and Muslims, he said.

Pointing out that Jews in Singapore have "very little concern for their safety and security", he said posts like this can “inflame tensions and can put the Jewish community here at risk".

"The anger from the post can potentially spill over into the physical realm."

"ASTONISHING ATTEMPT TO REWRITE HISTORY"

The Singapore government has made its views on the Facebook post "very clear" to the Israeli embassy, Mr Shanmugam said.

"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."

He also called the post an "astonishing attempt to rewrite history".

"The writer of the post should look at UN regulations, see if Israel's actions in the past few decades have been consistent with international law, before trying to rewrite history."

But Mr Shanmugam stressed that the government did not intervene with the post on that basis, but because of the potential consequences for the different communities in Singapore.

He added that embassies may put out statements that the government disagrees with, and it generally does not intervene as the embassies represent sovereign countries.

"They have 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," said the minister.

In a separate statement to the media, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said: “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.”