20-year-old who planned to kill Jews outside synagogue detained
He is the first self-radicalised ISA case driven primarily by Israel-Palestine issue
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(Clockwise from far left) Chief Rabbi of Singapore Mordechai Abergel, Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) honorary adviser Victor Sassoon, JWB president Nash Benjamin, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam, Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir and Harmony Centre head Ustazah Liyana Rosli Asmara at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
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A 20-year-old Singaporean who had planned to use a knife to attack and kill Jews here, and to take up arms abroad, has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Amirull Ali, who was in full-time national service as an administrative support assistant in the Singapore Armed Forces when arrested last month, planned to target three Jewish men after their Saturday prayers at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue in Waterloo Street.
The Internal Security Department (ISD) said yesterday that Amirull, who was enraged by the Israel-Palestine conflict, assumed the men would have done national service in Israel and had carried out atrocities against Palestinians.
But he shelved his plans twice, believing that he would not attain "martyrdom" if arrested.
Instead, he made plans to travel to Gaza to join the military wing of the territory's ruling faction Hamas in its fight against Israel.
This is the second recent case of a thwarted terror attack on a place of worship.
Last December, a 16-year-old self-radicalised Singaporean student planning to attack two mosques in Sembawang and Woodlands and kill Muslims there was detained under the ISA.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday that security at places of worship may have to be reviewed in the light of increased risks, but they cannot be turned into fortresses.
He added that a large part of the local Jewish community are in fact Singaporeans who would have served NS here.
Amirull is the first self-radicalised ISA case to be driven primarily by the Israel-Palestine conflict, said Mr Shanmugam. He was detained not because he sympathised with the Palestinian cause, but because he wanted to kill innocent people here.
"It's perfectly okay to support the Palestinian cause, but it's not okay to go around killing people," he said.
Amirull, who is Muslim, developed an interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2014, after viewing a video of Palestinian civilians being bombed by Israeli fighter jets.
In 2015, he began supporting Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB), after reading a book glorifying its exploits. Three years later, he discussed his plans to join AQB with a foreign contact, who encouraged him and told him he would be a martyr if he died fighting on the battlefield.
From mid-2018, he researched travel routes to Gaza and planned to join AQB after his full-time NS.
ISD's investigations found he had acted alone. His immediate family and others in his social circles were not aware of his plans.
He reached his decision to attack Jews here in July 2019, after watching a CNA documentary on the Jewish community here. He became "enraged" that they were thriving peacefully in Singapore, while Palestinians were suffering overseas.
Amirull decided to conduct his attack using a Smith & Wesson knife he had bought in 2016 for scouting activities. He researched the best place to stab his victims to inflict a quick death, and made two reconnaissance trips to the 143-year-old synagogue between August and October 2019.
He put his plans on hold, but revisited them last December after watching a YouTube video on the killing of an autistic Palestinian man by Israeli forces.
Amirull planned to mount his attack on Christmas Day, but shelved the plan as he was again concerned about not attaining martyrdom.
Early this year, the Ministry of Defence alerted the ISD that he could have been radicalised.
Yesterday, Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir and Islamic Religious Council of Singapore chief executive Esa Masood visited the synagogue and met Chief Rabbi Mordechai Abergel and Jewish leaders to show solidarity with the Jewish community and reaffirm longstanding bonds of friendship.
"Our commonalities are much stronger than any differences," said the Mufti, adding that the youth's actions dishonour and desecrate the very faith he claimed to defend.
Rabbi Abergel said they were grateful an attack was averted. "We are resolute that the isolated incident would not colour the very strong relationship we have with our Muslim friends in Singapore."
