Let’s see if you could name this country:
She was a backwoods, third world British colony before she gained independence in the middle of the 20th century.
She is surrounded by hostile Muslim countries that hope to take over and make her another Muslim country.
As a result, she has a strong army with mandatory conscription.
She invests a lot of money into biotechnology, possessing one of the most sophisticated water catchment and recycling systems in the world.
In just over fifty years, she transformed miraculously from a third world country to an affluent, thriving first world country that is an example to the rest of the world, with one of the highest life expectancies and standards of living.
You think I’m talking about Israel, right? Wrong! I’m talking about Singapore.
Before its independence in 1965, Singapore was a British mandate, and before that, part of the Arab empire.
So was Israel.
Singapore and her Muslim neighbor, Malaysia, used to be one British colony, Malaya. When Singapore achieved independence in 1965, Malaya broke off into a giant Muslim country, Malaysia, and a tiny majority Chinese country, Singapore.
Israel and her Muslim neighbor, Jordan, used to be one British colony, called Mandate Palestine. When Israel achieved independence in 1948, Mandate Palestine broke off into a giant Muslim country, Jordan, and a tiny majority Jewish country, Israel.
Israel even helped Singapore start her army. The conscription system in Singapore mirrors that of Israel, only women aren’t conscripted in Singapore.
Interestingly, Singapore used to be indistinguishable from Malaysia, with the majority of Singaporeans Malay until the early 1900’s when Chinese traders followed the British prosperity for a chance at economic success.
Indigenous Malays used to live in settlements called Kampongs, which were destroyed when Singapore became independent in order to make room for modern buildings. Over time, the Chinese either worked their way up or purchased land from Malay landowners, just like the Jews in Mandate Palestine. When Singapore was founded, many Malays went to Malaysia out of the desire to live in a Muslim majority country.
When Israel was founded, most of the Muslim population fled, either to avoid becoming collateral damage during the war of independence, or because they wanted to live in a Muslim majority country.
The population of Singapore is around 6 million: 75% Chinese, 15% Malay, 9% Indian, and 1% other (including Caucasian, Filipino, Indonesian, etc). All have equal rights.
The population of Israel is around 8 million: 75% Jewish, 15% Arab Muslim, 9% Arab Christian, and 1% other (including Druze, Bedouins, Circassians, etc). All have equal rights.
Interestingly, you don’t see people complaining about Singapore not having a right to exist. Nobody complains about the strength of Singapore’s army, which is one of the strongest per capita in the world (they spend more per capita on military than even Israel). Nobody complains that Singapore bulldozed Malay villages to build high rises. Nobody complains about Chinese privilege in Singapore society, at least nobody outside of Singapore. Singapore isn’t teeming with NGOs and a defamation campaign against her, even though she actually was the result of settlers displacing an indigenous people, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary at the time, while Israel was the result of indigenous people resettling the land that was stolen from us by colonizers. And most definitely, you don’t see people outside of Singapore telling Singaporeans what to do, or that they should give some of their land back to the Malaysians. Singapore was conquered by the Arabs just like Israel was, so the double standard – that Muslims around the world believe that since Israel was conquered during the Arab conquest in the name of Allah so therefore it must be returned, but don’t apply that standard to Singapore – implies that something more sinister is at play.
The world isn’t obsessed with analyzing Singapore’s every move or decrying its human rights abuses, and there are many, even though it’s by far the most progressive country in the region. Homosexual acts are even illegal there, so no one could even accuse Singapore of pinkwashing.
As someone who lived in Singapore for almost two years, look back on my time there with fondness, and felt the safest there as a Jew than anywhere else outside Israel, the similarities are jarring, and even Singaporeans themselves recognize them. As a result, most of the Singaporeans I’ve spoken to, even many Muslim Singaporeans, revere Israel not only for the help it has given Singapore, but also for the example it set of a nation that could rise from the ashes. Partnerships between the two countries are so common in all facets of life – from biomedical research, to the tech industry, to agriculture, to university study – that I learned more Hebrew during my time in Singapore than Chinese.
But the analogy is not perfect. First of all, Singapore doesn’t have much of a free press. All media is censored and state-run, As a result, dissension and self-criticism that may feed animosity is stifled before it grows, which is shocking because you don’t see so-called “human rights activists” caring at all about this issue, and you certainly don’t see NGOs getting all worked up about being “silenced” when mere transparency measures are taken.
Having lived in Singapore makes me feel, without a doubt, that there must be a reason that the world looks at Israel through a magnifying glass, and that reason has nothing to do with the country itself.
You can’t even use the Holy Land excuse, because even when Jerusalem was in Arab hands, the Arabs still fought to take total control of the land of Israel. Jerusalem is a red herring.
Makes you think a little about what role worldwide antisemitism plays in all this, doesn’t it?
