Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith has finally decided to act in relation to Mossad’s use of fraudulent Australian passports in the murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. His belated decision to expel an Israeli diplomat comes a full two months after the British government expelled an Israeli diplomat from the UK, and almost four months since the passport fraud revelations hit the international headlines.
Even now, Smith is not exactly being forthright in his condemnation of the Netanyahu administration. He described the use of fabricated Australian passports in the commission of an act of State murder as, “not the act of a friend,” and went on to say, “This is not what we expect from a nation with whom we have had such a close, friendly and supportive relationship.” In other words, even while announcing the expulsion of one of its diplomats, Smith was at pains to point out what a wonderful relationship Canberra has with Tel Aviv! He even went so far as to say, “The government takes this step much more in sorrow than anger or retaliation.” It seems the foreign minister’s pusillanimity knows no bounds.
Far from being satisfied with Smith’s largely symbolic decision to temporarily expel an Israeli diplomat, Friends of Palestine WA is of the view that the Rudd government should throw its diplomatic weight behind an international criminal investigation of the murder of al-Mabhouh. Such an investigation, were it to take place, would fit into a much broader and in-depth investigation of the war crimes committed in the northern winter of 2008-9, when the previous Israeli government was responsible for the deaths of some 1400 men, women and children in the Gaza concentration camp. It is outrageous that the International Criminal Court has thus far not issued any indictments for any leaders of the Israeli State in relation to crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead, and that the UN Security Council has not recommended that such indictments be issued.
Sadly, real justice for the Palestinian victims of Israeli state terrorism will be a long time coming, and will involve a great deal more than the token, belated expulsion of an Israeli diplomat. In other words, the Rudd government will have to do an awful lot more before we can be satisfied that it supports justice and peace in Israel/Palestine.
Fraternally
Alex Whisson
Convener
Friends of Palestine WA
www.fopwa.org
