Singapore students swarm NUS centre with burial shroud, shoes to protest collaboration with Israel

Students and alumni of Singapore's top university kicked off the academic semester today with a symbolic protest outside a research centre that collaborates with Israeli institutions, paying tribute to Palestinian students killed in the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

"We are outraged that our universities continue to support and partner with these institutions, and wilfully avert their gaze in the name of maintaining'political neutrality' while their collaborators strip away an entire people's right to learning and life," Students For Palestine Singapore said in a statement.

They placed 124 pairs of shoes and a white burial shroud in front of the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise, or CREATE, part of a research alliance linking two local universities - NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) - with Israel's Hebrew University, built on occupied land in East Jerusalem.

The Hebrew University trains Israeli soldiers through specialised military programmes that help the Israeli police to spy on Palestinian neighbourhoods.

"The Singapore- Hebrew University partnership is a striking and visible example of continued ties between Singaporean higher education and Israeli institutions complicit in occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and it is far from unique," the group said, adding that NUS and NTU also have partnerships with Thales, one of Israel's largest arms suppliers, and the Israeli Aerospace Industries, whose weapons have been used in Gaza.

The group said that each pair of shoes placed in front of CREATE represents two lives: a Palestinian student killed in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and a student/alumnus in Singapore demanding that local institutions end their complicity with Israeli crimes.

"The burial shroud, atop which rests a graduation cap and scroll, is a grave symbol of the scholasticide in Gaza – all universities and more than 80% of schools in Gaza have been destroyed.

"The 124 pairs of shoes displayed today represent less than 1% of over 17,400 children killed by Israel in the past 15 months – a horrifying statistic equivalent to one child killed every 30 minutes," it added.

Among the Palestinian students remembered are Ph.D candidate Samar al-Fara, computer engineering student Sha'ban al-Dalou, the 19-year-old who was burnt alive in an Israeli attack on a hospital, and Medo Halimy, who ran a daily vlog showing how displaced Palestinians live in tents.

The group called on local universities to divest from all investments and partnerships with companies that profit from Israel's genocide.

"This includes hosting Israeli academics as well as student exchange programmes, internships and research attachments with Israeli universities," it said.

It said pro-Palestinian students in Singapore have been subjected to police surveillance and intimidation.

"Our classmates have been called into police stations for investigation, our graduations subjected to intense scrutiny and attire checking, and many of us have been punished for opposing genocide. As these restrictions and investigations persist, Israel continues to ravage Palestine, and our grief only grows."

Singapore, one of the few countries with close military and diplomatic ties with Israel, is said to have modelled itself on Israel's security and defence system. It is also the tenth largest customer of the Israeli defence industry.

Last year, Israeli arms manufacturers took part in the Singapore Airshow, displaying weapons that are currently being used against Palestinians.

While the Singapore government has criticised Israel's bombardment of Gaza, it has also said that Israel has a "right to self-defence", the same argument by the Zionist state to justify its genocidal campaign in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 50,000 people, mostly civilians and children.

Last April, a group of Singaporeans protested to call on the government to stop the arms trade with Israel.

In June, three Singaporeans were charged with disrupting public order for being part of a group that handed letters to then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong urging him to sever ties with Israel.

They were part of a group of 70 people who marched to the Prime Minister's Office and handed him 140 letters.