In Oct 2022, 38-year-old Ministry of Education (MOE) teacher, Mohamed Khairul Riduan bin Mohamed Sarip, was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
In a press release on Wednesday (11 Jan), the Internal Security Department (ISD) shared that Khairul was “self-radicalised” and that he made plans to travel to Gaza, Palestine to join HAMAS in its armed combat against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Source: Wbur
Khairul is reportedly the first teacher and public servant to be detained for terrorism-related offences.
According to a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) press release issued on Wednesday (11 Jan), Khairul came across Facebook videos showing purported acts of aggression by Israel against Palestinians in 2007. He subsequently developed an interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
His desire to “defend and support” Muslims in Gaza reportedly grew out of “deep sympathy” for them.
ISD shared that Khairul conducted online research into the conflict. This further entrenched his belief that the Israelis and the IDF were oppressing the Palestinians.
After watching videos by radical foreign preachers, the 38-year-old was further convinced of the need to engage in armed defence of Palestinians.
In 2012, Khirul considered travelling to Gaza after coming across a poster on Facebook, calling for volunteers for a humanitarian mission in the same city.
The poster stated that HAMAS and its militant wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB) were seeking volunteers.
Even though Khairul did not follow through on his intent in 2012, he felt compelled to travel to Gaza whenever the Israel-Palestine conflict escalated.
This happened in 2014 and 2021. Both times, his plans were impeded by travel restrictions.
However, Khairul admitted that he still harboured hopes of travelling there and said he’d be more motivated to “act” if the situation worsened.
As early as 2012, Khairul made travel preparations to Gaza. He planned to establish contact with HAMAS and AQB upon arriving.
Besides researching travel routes and flights, he also sought the advice of foreign individuals who stayed there or had intentions to travel there.
To evade “security scrutiny”, Khairul reportedly wanted to travel under the guise of providing humanitarian aid.
Khairul also conducted intensive research into HAMAS and AQB’s tactics and operations.
He believed they were legitimate defenders of Palestinians and that their violent acts against IDF were justified in Islam.
According to the press release, Khairul was prepared to participate in:
At the same time, he tried learning Arabic to communicate with soldiers in Gaza.
Khairul also thought of becoming a spokesperson and international recruiter for HAMAS, helping to facilitate the travel of anyone interested to join the conflict.
To him, it was his religious obligation to “spread the truth” about the conflict and encourage others to join HAMAS.
On Wednesday (11 Jan), Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said Khairul is the first teacher to be arrested under ISA, further describing his actions as “very serious”.
Source: K Shanmugam Sc on Facebook
Besides supporting the armed violence, Khairul held “extremely” segregationist beliefs.
He shared videos of lectures by a “radical foreign preacher” on his Facebook page. In one clip, one of the preachers even stated that Muslims should not wish Christians “Merry Christmas”.
Khairul also forbade his children from celebrating birthdays.
He attempted to influence his family members and children to hold these views but to no avail.
Thankfully, there is no evidence to suggest he tried to influence students with his beliefs.
MOE told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that Khairul had not been teaching any classes since Oct 2022.
To date, ISD’s investigation shows Khairul acted alone. There were no indications that he harboured intentions to carry out attacks in Singapore.
ISD emphasised that they will take stern action against anyone who “supports, promotes, undertakes, or makes preparations to undertake armed violence”, especially if the person is a public servant.
This is regardless of how they rationalise such violence or where the violence takes place.
Mr Shanmugam reiterated this stance, saying they have a “zero tolerance” approach to such cases.
He went on to say,
We’ve made clear our policy – that you think of going abroad to fight for any cause, we will arrest you.
While Khairul’s attempts to participate in armed combat alongside HAMAS and AQB did not materialise, he remained committed to travelling to Gaza.
ISD said that he posed an imminent threat as he held “deeply entrenched radical beliefs and support for armed violence”.
As such, he was issued an Order of Detention under the ISA, which took effect from 30 Nov 2022.
The ISD urged the public to remain vigilant to signs that someone around them has become radicalised.
Possible signs include:
If you suspect or know a person has been radicalised, you may wish to contact the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800-2626-473.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from K Shanmugam Sc on Facebook.
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