To the Singapore government,

This petition is being written to demand the Singapore government to end arms trade between Singapore and Israel.

It builds upon the momentum of a peaceful demonstration we carried out at the Skyway in Gardens by the Bay today (15 April 2024, 7.05pm), calling on our government to stop all arms trade with Israel and end our complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. Our action comes in solidarity with A15’s launch of a global economic blockade across 50 cities to disrupt the global economy’s indifference to the human rights abuses happening right before our eyes.

Israeli War Crimes

Over the past six months, we have witnessed the Israeli war machine indiscriminately killing over 33,000 Palestinians and injuring over 75,000 people. Nowhere is safe in the Gaza Strip: the assault has come by air, by sea, by land. Israeli forces have decimated most of the Strip’s hospitals, schools, institutions, places of worship, and infrastructure. They have murdered healthcare workers and journalists. Starvation has been wielded as a weapon of war; aid has been blocked from entering Gaza, leaving the population to starve. Unarmed civilians trying to access the little aid that does come through have been shot at. Organisations like Doctors Without Borders have reported that crucial medical supplies have been blocked and aid workers attacked. These are only some of the horrors Israel has inflicted on innocent civilians in Gaza, and this is only the latest horrific episode in a long history of occupation and violence.

Support By Singaporeans

PM Lee Hsien Loong’s administration has made statements expressing concern for Palestinians’ suffering. They have told Israel that their military response “has now gone too far”. They have voted in favour of resolutions at the United Nations calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the urgent and unhindered provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Singapore government and Singaporean citizens have also made donations to fund and provide humanitarian aid for Palestinians. 

How Singapore Enables Genocide with Arms Trade

All these gestures and acts of goodwill are nullified and are being sabotaged by how our government has also been enabling Israel in their collective punishment against Palestinians. We do this by: 

1. Continuing to buy arms from Israel. Between 2018 to 2022, Singapore imported weapons from Israel totalling 73 million dollars, holding the position of being the 10th highest arms buyer of Israel. In 2023, there was a decision to install IAI Blue Spear missiles, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on our ship fleets. The Singaporean Airforce is flying two squadrons of Israeli-made drones manufactured by Elbit and IAI. There are or have been other arms trade contracts between Israel and Singapore which include the sale of tanks, air-to-ground Barak missiles, the Hermes drone system, fighter jets equipped with the latest Israeli electronic devices and warships over the years.
2. Allowing Israeli weapon manufacturers to parade and promote their weapons that have been ‘battle-tested’ on the Strip. At the Singapore Airshow this year, 11 Israeli weapon manufacturers including IAI, Elbit, Rafael and more were allowed to display arms and equipment, some of which had been used by the Israeli Defence Force to kill thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, the effectiveness of the weaponry was backed up by evidence from the battlefields in Gaza and Lebanon. When challenged on this in Parliament, the MTI’s response was that ‘as long as exhibitors are not subject to prevailing sanctions by UN or Singapore government’ the Airshow organisers could have discretion in exhibitors they invite.
3. Having joint ventures between Israeli companies and Singaporean entities like ST Engineering, Avnon Group Singapore, Singapore Armed Forces & CSF Ventures to develop and market weapons like anti-cruise missiles – some of which like MATADOR has been extensively used by the Israeli Defence Force soldiers in their oppression against Gaza.
4. Investing money into the research and development of Israeli weapons system to manufacture them in our own industries. 

Our Demand

What then is the point of the actions Singapore has been taking to aid Gaza, while financing and collaborating with Israel on arms trade, making their attacks on Gaza more lucrative? It is unacceptable that Singaporeans’ hard-earned money is used to fund genocide, and that we continue to provide a platform for the perpetrators of such violence.

One of the most important steps the Singapore government can take is to stop the arms trade with Israel. We believe that Singapore has a responsibility to not be complicit in genocide and war crimes. We should be taking swift action to force Israel to stop its violations and protect Palestinians against further obliteration. We in fact have a legal responsibility to act, according to precedents and provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice that states have the duty “to employ all means reasonably available to them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible’. 

Now that the transition of power has been officially set for 15 May, Lawrence Wong, the incoming prime minister, has a crucial opportunity to set the tone for his premiership by taking a firm stand against genocide. In a video statement, he has promised Singaporeans that “your dreams will inspire my actions, your concerns will guide my decisions”.

We urge the government to listen to our unequivocal message about the dreams and concerns of Singaporeans – we do not want our nation to contribute financially to the infliction of suffering of innocent men, women, and children. Singaporeans have exhausted all other possible methods to be heard by our elected government. We have sent emails to parliamentarians, written letters to government ministers, held private events, set up online petitions and organised social media campaigns. Singaporeans have also tried to organise peaceful and lawful demonstrations at Hong Lim Park, only to be told that the authorities would be denying even this severely restricted right to freedom of assembly. We have no choice but to escalate our efforts to draw attention to our urgent demands. You cannot ignore us now.

We act today because we believe that, to exist in this world, we must care bravely, safeguard rights fiercely and act tirelessly to end all oppression. We are not free until we are all free. We are not free until Palestine is free.