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.