An Israel critic – a member of the Singapore Armed Forces – has been arrested, planning a non-violent protest to express his opposition to Israeli governmental policies.
Ok, now I’ll stop reporting it like a disingenuous media outlet or Israel hater.
A 20-year-old Singaporean named Amirull bin Ali was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in March 2021 for planning to carry out a violent attack on Jewish members of the Maghain Aboth Synagogue at Waterloo Street.
Amirull, a former full-time National Serviceman (NSF) in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), had also planned to travel to Gaza in Palestine to join the military wing of Hamas and fight against Israel.
Amirull’s interest in the Palestine-Israel conflict began sometime in 2014, after watching a video which showed Palestinians being bombed by Israeli fighter jets. According to a press release from the Internal Security Department (ISD):
“His subsequent online research into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict convinced him that Israel was oppressing Palestinians and also deepened his hatred for Israel.”
In 2015, he read a book that glorified the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB), Hamas’s military wing, and supported them.
ISD informed Mothership, “Amirull purchased the book without his family’s knowledge while they were on a trip in Malaysia. The book is not available in Singapore.”
In 2018, Amirull discussed with a “foreign contact” his plan to travel to Palestine and join the AQB.
He was encouraged to do so, as he was told he would become a martyr if he were to die on a battlefield while “fighting against the enemies of Islam.”
Between 2018 and 2020, Amirull made plans to travel to Gaza and take up arms alongside AQB fighters.
He even created his own replica of an AK-47 assault rifle and practised with it, as he believed he would be issued one.
Amirull planned to join AQB after completing his full-time National Service and when he had saved up enough money.
In July 2019, Amirull happened to watch a CNA documentary on the Jewish community in Singapore, as part of CNA’s Singapore Mosaic series showcasing different communities here.
Amirull became “enraged” that Jews were living peacefully and thriving in Singapore while Palestinians were suffering overseas. He decided to attack Jews at the synagogue.
Amirull planned to execute his attack at the synagogue on a Saturday, after Jewish congregational prayers.
He wanted to kill three Jewish men, assuming they would have served national service in Israel and therefore supposedly carried out alleged atrocities against the Palestinians.
He intended to conceal his face with a white keffiyeh scarf when carrying out the attack, and would flee the scene to post a short manifesto online afterwards.
The manifesto called on “oppressed people”, inciting them to mount attacks against “tyrannical regimes”, using “any means necessary”, including “assassinations” and “vigilante justice.”
Realising that it would be difficult to get a gun in Singapore, he planned to use a Smith & Wesson knife that he originally purchased in 2016 for scouting activities.
He also downloaded a diagram of the human vascular system.
This was used to identify the mid-section as the best place to stab his intended victims to inflict a quick death from massive bleeding.
Not content with making a replica AK-47, he also made a replica knife to practise “stabbing motions” and “grip techniques”, so as to avoid damaging the actual knife or hurting himself.
Amirull even made two reconnaissance trips to the synagogue to scout the area and identify a spot along the exterior wall of the synagogue’s compound from where he could ambush his victims as they exited.
It sounds to me like with bin Ali ‘s arrest, a major disaster was averted.
Note how he was taught not just to act against Israel because of some “territorial dispute”, but to really hate Jews, painted as “enemies of Islam.”
I sincerely hope he was taught all this from his “contact” or the Hamas book, and not from an Imam in a mosque.
Hat tip: Maimon
