Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s remark earlier this week that the war in Palestine is “a family quarrel, in another family” was hard to swallow. Our humanity is not a switch we can turn off – especially when we are bombarded, day in and day out, with images of grief, death and destruction resulting from the violence in Palestine.
The ‘family quarrel’ analogy drew ire to the comments on an Instagram post by MSF which had called for people to speak up against domestic violence.
MSF’s caption said, “Your intervention can help save lives”.
Yet, we are told by Minister Vivian that the worst thing would be to “get involved unnecessarily” when it came to Palestine.
It felt like a double standard.
In both situations, the moral responsibility to intervene to protect our fellow man weighs heavy on us.
However, there were comments to the post that felt that Minister Vivian’s point that we remain calm, united and constructive was fit for ridicule.
The ‘family quarrel’ analogy had been in poor taste – but it does not make the message that we have to keep together any less salient. The sheer anger and bitterness we saw in the comments show us the need for it.
Ultimately, our adversary is not each other, nor is it the government. Yes, many feel that the government should be doing more, and condemn Israel. (For the record, the government has condemned Israel for having gone too far. Singapore also voted in favour of Palestine’s membership in the United Nations in May. Singapore had abstained on this vote in 2012, so this is a step forward.)
However, the flood of comments to the post had been uncalled for – the post had not touched on the war, and it had wanted to promote a cause that should be viewed no less important than what is happening in Palestine.
Furthermore, it would not hurt us to have a think for those who do not want Singapore to get involved, or even those who might support Israel. We might not agree with them, and we might think that they are wrong – but they are no less Singaporean than us, and are as entitled to demand from the government as we do.
This is what it means to not import quarrels. Yes, there is a ‘quarrel’ in Israel-Palestine. But that does not mean that we have to quarrel here at home. Our views may differ, but we can agree to disagree, and keep together.
Ultimately, our goal is the same, regardless of how we think it can be achieved: durable peace in the Middle East.
(The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the Editor’s)
