‘I have a very sharply different view on Israel, Palestine from Mr Calvin Cheng’: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE – Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has made clear that when it comes to the issue of Israel and Palestine, his views are very different from those of Mr Calvin Cheng.

Speaking to the media at Masjid Maarof in Jurong West on April 2, he said, when asked to comment on a post by the former Nominated MP: “I have a very sharply different view on Israel, Palestine from Mr Calvin Cheng.”

He added: “I have previously said in November 2023 that Israel’s actions are illegal and oppressive to Palestinians, and that remains my view.”

His remarks come after a Facebook post by Mr Cheng on March 13 in which he offered to pay to relocate a group of activists to Gaza, as long as they do not return to Singapore.

Mr Shanmugam did not elaborate on the specifics of the post.

“I haven’t been following it very closely. Mr Calvin Cheng comments on a variety of matters – I don’t see all of them. Those that I come across, I can say some I agree with, and some I clearly disagree with,” he said. 

“What the facts really are, I don’t know. As I said, I haven’t seen the blow-by-blow responses.

“But I would suggest it is best to keep to the truth, and also be sensitive in making comments on the Israel-Palestine situation,” Mr Shanmugam added.

He noted that a police report has been filed and there is a possibility of legal action.

Following Mr Cheng’s post, former Singapore Democratic Party chairman Jufrie Mahmood filed a police report on March 28 in which he accused the former NMP of being an Islamophobe, citing a previous example of derogatory language being used to describe a group of madrasah students.

Mr Cheng rebutted the accusation, calling it a “false attribution” as the remarks were made by another individual, and said on April 2 that he will be taking legal action against Mr Jufrie, as well as several others, for making defamatory statements.

Noting that the police will follow through with the report, Mr Shanmugam said: “I will leave aside whether Mr Jufrie has put out falsehoods, and if he has, then that can be serious.”