Israel may have put its foot in it, right and proper, this time. Its arrest of Palestinians working in international charities is spurning much drivel about the alleged Hamas connection. Countries are finding it hard to believe, indeed comprehend, the finger-pointing by Israeli officials that world humanitarian organisations in Gaza are in cahoots with Hamas. This is against the overwhelming evidence that shows there isn’t a blind bit of truth in the concoction that the government in Tel Aviv is trying to foster between aid, international terrorism and violence.
The insidious campaign led by Israel’s domestic spy agency, Shin Bet — and given a high-profile, international public relations spin by its Foreign Ministry, that is alerting its counterparts around the world, saying what it is doing is good and proper, is about as muddled, bungled-up and irksome as Israel has yet come up with. Shin Bet has always had an underlying sinister and bloody hand in meddling in Palestinian affairs and its assassinations of not only activists but grilling of women, children, old and the young. This time, it may have gone a little too far, accusing three respected top aid agencies — the United States-based Christian World Vision, United Nations Development Project and the British Save the Children Fund — of standing aside while watching their coffers being pillaged by alleged Hamas-recruited employees.
This has become laughable, particularly because these employees have long vouched for Gaza not having become a banana republic yet, as the Israelis would like us to believe. These professional staff members have much standing in aid distribution in war-torn Gaza, with the Israeli army waging a brutal, deadly war against them in 2014. Israel has no compunction about enforcing its embargo against the Gaza Strip that has been in place since 2007 and shows no sign of being removed.
Western donor agencies and western governments are finding it increasingly hard to maintain a stiff upper lip at the latest charges and allegations against reputable charities that have for long been doing development and relief work — not just in Palestine, but all over the world. They are particularly dismayed at the accusation brought about by none other than Shin Bet, which is accusing World Vision’s Gaza office director Mohammad Al Halabi of siphoning off $50 million (Dh183.9 million) to Hamas. But World Vision officials, including its president Keith Jenkins, say these numbers are “hard to reconcile”, especially since the cumulative budget of the evangelical charity for Gaza in the last 10 years was only about $22.5 million. So this is the first clear untruth that Israeli officials are refusing to admit, which makes them guilty of playing a propaganda war.
Above all, time and again, charity officials have said their figures are fully audited and there is no way that money can exchange hands without monitoring and proper authorisation; and there is much transparency in their audit, made by brand names and respected international institutions such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. These charities rely on governments and if their books are not in order, they simply will not get funding, neither for their projects in the West Bank and Gaza nor for their projects anywhere else in the world. World Vision operates in 65 countries around the world and the latest accusations are only meant to tarnish their image globally.
But as is expected, the denials by the charities and the consequences of their acts appear to be falling on deaf ears. Israel has long appeared to have associated itself with developing its “teflon factor”. In such a murky world and even where truths have become ingrained with a pinch of salt, it is sticking to its guns, allowing itself to be dragged into a mud of accusations and conspiracies through Shin Bet, which has become the undeniable voice of the Israeli government.
This is actually an odd thing for a country that prides itself on being governed by a parliament, political parties, elected officials and holds elections. Where is accountability, one might ask, and where is government transparency? The longer Shin Bet continues to be in the limelight as the pied-piper calling the tune, ever-promising to produce more truths of wisdom about the relationship between employees of charities and Hamas, the more likely Israel’s social standing and credibility among the community of nations will be dented.
Israel, as its politicians and officials should know, is already walking a tightrope and many countries and world leaders know of its tactics and the arm-twisting strategies of its security agencies. Everyone, including Israel’s friends in the West, knows that Al Halabi was indicted on trumped-up charges of belonging to Hamas after 50 days of interrogation — 25 days of which he was without a lawyer and was finally forced to make a concession under torture. What is sad as well is that Israeli courts are being used to come up with verdicts that are helping legitimise a system that is stacked against the Palestinians.
Through Israeli actions, the evil deed has successfully been accomplished. The Australian Foreign Ministry and Germany, for instance, have suspended their aid to Gaza. Other global humanitarian bodies are also worried that their aid could very well be stopped. The other long-term fear is that more and more humanitarian organisations are likely to continue to come under the heat, whereby, their work and action in Gaza and the West Bank is ever more likely to be under the surveillance of the Israeli government, its military and security agencies.
It’s indeed a sordid affair that doesn’t seem to have an end. And the only victims at the end of the day are the hapless Palestinians in Gaza — many of whom need help from these charities to sustain their livelihood. They are now facing the back end of the Israeli rifle.
Marwan Asmar is a political commentator based in Amman. He has long worked in journalism and has a PhD in Political Science from Leeds University in the UK.
