As an Australian journalist based in the West Bank city
of Ramallah, it is not often that I hear the names of Australian
politicians on the lips of local Palestinians. But news of Australia’s
expulsion of an Israeli secret service agent over the forging of
passports used in the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Dubai
earlier this year, have torn through the city streets like a desert
wind. And with memories of Joe Biden’s humiliation in Jerusalem still
fresh, its easy to understand why Australia’s decision to dismiss the
Mossad operative carries a spirit of hope the local Palestinian
community had long failed to see in the international community.
Finally, someone stood up and drew a line in the sand.
As Australia’s foreign affairs minister acknowledges,
this is hardly the first time Israel has been found guilty of
counterfeiting passports, and no responsible government can stand idly
by whilst the security and rights of its citizens are so blatantly
violated.
But for Palestinians, the element of surprise is
clearly absent. An Israeli government operation that puts the security
of its own people ahead of the security of non-Israeli citizens is as
common as stone and thyme in these lands. The stolen identities of the
Australian, UK, French, Irish and German nationals are simply more
tainted documents to add to the endless paper trail of discriminatory
laws and court ordered warrants that mean the exploitation of
non-Israeli citizens in the name of Israeli security.
And whilst the resolute stance of Australia is not
expected to have any impact on the conduct of the Israeli government or
its secret service in relation to Palestine, there is at least the
recognition that universal condemnation was brought to bear on the
illegitimacy of official Israeli policy. If only for a week.
The symbolism and inherent hope of such an event is not
taken for granted in the occupied territories. The general consensus
from the other side of the apartheid wall however, is that Israelis
have had enough of what they see as a growing trend towards criticism
of its policies from Western countries.
From the Israeli viewpoint, countries such as
Australia, France and the UK, despite their own heated political issues
of coexistence and mutual respect with migrant Muslim communities, are
ignorant of the day to day reality for Israeli citizens. They see a
grinding struggle with religious extremists, terrorists and internal
centre leftists hell-bent on destabilising the Jewish state. Therefore
it is only through ignorance and naivety that western nations would
dare criticise the lawfulness of Israeli government policy when
responding to such threats.
Hence the perceived “overreaction” by the Australian
government in closing the door on the secret agent, after counterfeit
Australian passports were found not far from the bloody corpse of
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room.
But as the political scandal continues to spiral out of
control in Australia, the Israeli foreign ministry remains tight lipped
over the scandal, refusing to either confirm or deny the culpability of
their government in the identity theft and murder, saying only that
Australia’s response is regrettable and “does not reflect the
importance and the quality of our relationships”.
In its place, the pro-Israel lobby has spoken out,
cautioning Australia against lecturing on morality when it is Israel,
and Israel alone, that has authority to speak on such matters.
“Therefore, irrespective of who was responsible (for the
assassination), describing the killing of Mabhouh as ‘murder’ is
questionable and ignores the likelihood that the killing of an active
terrorist leader from a violent rejectionist organisation positively
saved lives,” said Mark Leibler of the Australia/Israel & Jewish
Affairs Council.
Killing with impunity, it would then seem, is a tool of
international diplomacy critics of Israel should observe in silence,
until they know what it means to be an Israeli policy maker.
But Israel’s growing isolation from the international
community is inextricably linked to such arrogance; a stubborn resolve
to stare down the international community over issues as varied as
counter terrorism, settlement expansion and nuclear arsenals.
Despite fervent denials from right-wing politicians, it
is not Israel’s ability to act unilaterally that has preserved the
Jewish state for so long, but its alliance with the West and relative
peace with moderate Arab states. For these alliances to survive, mutual
displays of trust must occur.
With a growing frustration stemming primarily from a
lack of visible commitment to conclusively resolve the Palestine
question, support for Israel in the international community takes a
battering when scandals such as the counterfeit passport affair occur.
The issue at the centre of growing criticism of Israeli
policies in Palestine and the broader Middle East is its sheer
disregard for international laws and protocols; the hypocrisy of
Jerusalem to so consistently and unashamedly put the security of its
citizens ahead of others.
For the Palestinians, the diplomatic tussle set to
unfold between Australia and Israel will have little meaning for their
own grievances with the Jewish state. But it does offer some hope that
when further state sanctioned injustices are committed against them,
the eyes and ears of the Western powers will be a little more open to
the facts and a little more willing to speak out.
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