Why remove ‘except Israel’ from passports?

The outburst of violence between Palestine and Israel during the month of Ramadan led to Hamas firing rockets and Israel bombing Palestine. Israeli air strikes caused at least 254 Palestinian deaths including 66 children and massive destruction in Palestine. On May 18, France along with Egypt and Jordan, announced the filing of a United Nations resolution for ceasefire and the fighting ended.

The prime minister and the foreign minister of Bangladesh gave Bangladesh's support to the legitimate struggles of the Palestinians and condemned Israel's attacks. 

Since the establishment in 1971 of Bangladesh as a Muslim majority country, the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, openly affirmed his position in favour of Palestine and stood against Israeli oppression in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Bangladesh supported the Palestinians against Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, including in the form of sending a medical team and relief supplies for Palestinians.

In 1980, a postal stamp was created depicting a Palestinian freedom fighter, the Al-Aqsa mosque in the background shrouded by barbed wires, and text celebrating Palestinian fighters as "valiant" in English and Arabic.

With the endorsement of the Father of the Nation, all passports contained the clause: "This passport is valid for all the countries of the world except Israel." 

Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Palestine are close and cordial. Bangladesh has been a consistent supporter of the Palestinian campaign for an independent state and has no relations with Israel. Furthermore, Palestine has a mission in Dhaka and Bangladesh offers scholarships to young Palestinians, and the two countries co-operate on other affairs as well. 

Now, in a surprise move on May 23, 2021, the foreign and home ministers  announced that Bangladeshi passports will no longer bear the text "except Israel". This move, after 50 years of independence, contradicts the Father of the Nation's commitment to Palestine and the citizens' commitment to Palestinians. 

The foreign minister of Bangladesh said that there has been no change in Bangladesh's position towards Palestine as it still does not recognise Israel. But it is surely reasonable to suspect that this deletion means relations with Israel may move towards normalisation.

On the other hand, if removing the phrase "except Israel" has indeed not changed Bangladesh's position on Israel, the question arises: why remove these words if it does not make any difference if they are there?

Already, Israel's Deputy Director General for Asia and Pacific at Israel's Foreign Ministry has tweeted, "Great news! Bangladesh has removed travel ban to Israel. This is a welcome step and I call on the Bangladeshi government to move forward and establish diplomatic ties with Israel so both our peoples could benefit and prosper."

The Israeli Ambassador to India said, "Look forward to working with the Govt of Bangladesh, so much added value we can bring to each other".

These are ominous moves from Israel when the foreign minister says we shall maintain norelations with Israel. Clearly, the Israeli government anticipates further movement. The home minister said the changes are to ensure passports meet "international standard". Yet, "except Israel" was there when the government introduced machine readable passports (MRPs) 10 years ago. Had it also not met international standards back then?

All passports have to maintain the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) standard. Yet, Bangladesh's passports already meet it. Passports of all countries meet it, so why the change? And what global standard is he talking about? ICAO is the global standard.

The foreign minister said, "No country uses these words 'except Israel' anymore, not even the Arab nations."

I am amazed at the above comments of the two ministers, who must be familiar with passports of many countries.

To cite a few examples, while Malaysia does have commercial relations with Israel, the Malaysian passport bears the text, "This passport is valid for all countries except Israel."

Pakistan is one of the countries whose passport explicitly states "all countries… except Israel."

At least twelve countries do not accept Israeli passports, including Algeria, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen.

Libya's passports state, "All countries of the world except occupied Palestine". Libya does not even recognise Israel. The passports of all the above countries are ICAO compliant.

One has to wonder what the foreign minister and the home minister mean by claiming that "except Israel" is used by no other countries.

The Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, approved passports with the term "except Israel". He also had a meeting with the Palestinian Leader, Yasser Arafat, in Lahore in 1973 at an OIC meeting. The passports that the Father of the Nation endorsed include "except Israel" and such passports are also ICAO compliant.

Who decided to overlook the stand taken by the Father of the Nation and also make statements that are untrue?

Dropping "except Israel", despite its endorsement by Bangabandhu, should have been discussed in public. Why was this move not been discussed in Parliament and in an open house debate? We select our politicians, we vote for them, and they are answerable to us. 

The issue of an "administrative problem" was mentioned by the home minister without much specificity. What is the administrative difficulty with having two words—"except Israel"—unless passports have already been ordered without them?

It is quite possible that this has all been due to the influence of powerful and wealthy individuals who have persuaded politicians to take this step.

We need to help Palestine, especially now that recent events have brought a new unity amongst young Palestinians, including many within Israel itself. I request that the two words, "except Israel", be inserted back into the passport again.

Selina Mohsin is a Former Ambassador.