http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3765545,00.html Swedish blood libel
Assaf Wohl writes open letter to Swedish FM over latest anti-Semitic conspiracy theory
Assaf Wohl
Published: 08.24.09, 17:00 / Israel Opinion
Dear Mr. Bildt,
Just like the overwhelming majority of Israel’s citizens, up until recently I held great respect for the Swedish nation. Even the trouble I had assembling a closet purchased at IKEA did not change this solid feeling.
Swedish FM:
'We're not anti-Semitic' / Associated Press
Carl Bildt rejects calls to condemn unsubstantiated story accusing Israeli troops of plundering Palestinian organs, draws parallel to Muhammad cartoon outrage; 'Freedom of expression very strong in our constitution,' he says
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However, along with many residents of the truly democratic world, I was surprised to read the “investigative report” published by Aftonbladet. A citizen of your country connected Jews detained in the US to a conspiracy whereby Israelis marketed organs “harvested” from Palestinian casualties. And so, we saw Jews from all parts of the globe brought together for a malevolent ploy combining money, control, and Jewish consumption of human blood.
Initially, I thought this was this was an old “investigative report” sent to Nazi newspaper Der Sturmer that mistakenly made its way to Stockholm. Perhaps, I thought, it was the work of one of the thousands of your “neutral” countrymen who volunteered to serve in the SS. Yet when the truth was revealed, I was surprised.
More than anything, Carl, I find it difficult to grasp how an article that does not meet any journalistic standard gets published in a major newspaper in a democratic and “neutral” country like Sweden. We are dealing with a wholly professional matter here. The “scoop” presented by the reporter made no distinction between “delusions” and “facts”. Is this the level of journalism in Sweden?
And you bother to explain to us, patronizingly, that this is a matter of freedom of speech, as if we were a primitive society unfamiliar with democracy. Yet freedom of speech does not constitute the freedom to lie and incite.
The “Swedish freedom of speech” lie which you boast of is ridiculous. Especially in light of the fact that in 2006 your government shut down a website that published the so-called “Muhammad cartoons.” This sort of silencing is unimaginable in the State of Israel and presents Swedish hypocrisy in all its ugliness.
I do not believe the hateful report stemmed from professional negligence. Both of us know well that it was prompted by anti-Semitism. Sorry, I meant to say “criticism of the State of Israel.” Did you ever ask yourself why is it that only the democratic Jewish State is constantly required to face obsessive criticism? Are the dozens of global dictatorships equally criticized in Sweden?
Excellent educational opportunity
This is no more than a substitute for anti-Semitism. A pathetic imitation injected by addicts to Jew-hatred. After all, you casted for this necrophilia story a bunch of Jews from New Jersey who do not even hold Israeli citizenship (some of them even objects to Israel’s existence.) Hence, don’t hide behind the false veneer of “criticism” for our country.
I’m hopeful that Israel’s Education Ministry will make use of this blood libel. It’s an excellent opportunity to explain “modern-day anti-Semitism” to the young generation that did not experience the Holocaust. From now on, this story will be part of the list of classic blood libels such as the one about “Christian blood for Passover” – what great honor for Sweden’s freedom of speech.
You know, Carl, in 20 years there will likely not be freedom of speech in Sweden. The radical social-democratic approach adopted by Sweden in the past poisoned your public opinion. Paradoxically, it endorsed the importation of violent and anti-democratic immigrants. On the other hand, you made sure to actively condemn the Jewish State, which happens to be the only democracy in the Middle East.
This approach of yours may have been sexy in the 1960s. However, its damage will prompt your downfall as a free society. Believe me, I will regret this no less than you. However, the lie you have been marketing to Swedish citizens is already being exposed in Malmo and in the suburbs of other European cities. On this front, you would do well to start getting used to the kind of freedom of speech customary in the Muslim world.
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Yet despite all, Carl, I do not wish to burn the bridges between us. Should ABBA reunite for another concert, consider my words null and void and get me a ticket immediately, regardless of the price. After all, I can understand you. Sympathy for violent aggressors is not unique to you; it is a well known phenomenon in the world of psychology. I think that in psychiatric literature it’s known as the Stockholm Syndrome.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/24/1007429/did-israel-overreact-in-swedish-newspaper-controversy he organ harvesting controversy: Did Sweden fumble or Israel overreact?
By Gil Shefler · August 24, 2009
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Donald Bostrom's article on allegations of IDF organ harvesting from Palestinians was published on Aug. 17, 2009 on Aftonbladet's Web site.
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Donald Bostrom's article on allegations of IDF organ harvesting from Palestinians was published on Aug. 17, 2009 on Aftonbladet's Web site.
NEWS ANALYSIS
NEW YORK (JTA) -- A Swedish newspaper is pushing forward with its far-fetched claims that the Israeli army harvested body organs from Palestinians. But for many Israel watchers the debate has shifted to whether the Swedish government fumbled the controversy or the Israeli government went overboard with its incensed reaction.
The decision by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet to publish the story, which included no evidence that the allegations were true, drew swift Israeli and Jewish denunciations, as well as a condemnation by Sweden’s ambassador to Israel. But then the Swedish Foreign Ministry disavowed that condemnation in the name of free speech, infuriating Israeli officials.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman charged that the Swedish government position was reminiscent of the country's policy of neutrality toward Nazi Germany during World War II. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded a formal condemnation from the Swedes. And the Israeli Government Press Office delayed accreditation of two Aftonbladet reporters for a visit to Israel early next month by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
For their part, Stockholm officials argued that it is not the government's place to comment on press reports out of concern for freedom of the press.
Meanwhile, some members of Sweden's small Jewish community said this week they were bewildered by Israel's handling of the affair. Some Israelis also criticized their government’s response as an overreaction.
"The Israeli reaction was very harsh, and it created a storm on a diplomatic scale," Lena Ponser, president of the Official Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden, told JTA. "On the one side, it is understandable. On the other, it shifts the focus from the main issue at hand: Instead of trying to expose [the falsehood of the story], all the other papers are now supporting the freedom of press."
In an editorial, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz said Lieberman's invocation of the Holocaust and Sweden's neutrality during World War II caused political damage for Israel and dishonored the memory of victims of Nazism.
"The argument cheapened the Holocaust, blew the article out of proportion and caused an international uproar, pushing Sweden -- which currently holds the presidency of the European Union -- into an unnecessary confrontation with Israel," the editorial said. "Lieberman must understand that freedom of the press exists in Sweden -- for both good journalism and bad -- and that just as in Israel, the government does not dictate what is published. Its purpose is not to condemn news stories.”
The controversial article penned by freelancer Donald Boström ran on Aug. 17 in Aftonbladet, a tabloid and one of the two leading newspapers in Sweden.
In his piece, Boström tied the recent arrest of Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum, a Brooklyn Jew suspected of trying to sell a kidney, to allegations by Palestinians in the West Bank that the bodies of family members killed in clashes with Israeli forces were returned with organs missing.
This week, the newspaper followed up with another report on allegations of organ harvesting, calling on Israel to investigate the issue. The newspaper’s editor also penned a piece defending the decision to publish the stories.
Sweden's ambassador to Israel, Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier, called the original article "shocking and appalling." But Sweden’s foreign minister later disavowed her statement on his blog, saying the government had no right to comment.
Lieberman called the report a blood libel. "The story published this week is a natural continuation of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ and blood libels like the Beilis trial, in which Jews were accused of adding Christian children's blood to Passover matzah," he said, according to reports.
Jewish Swedes have watched with dismay as the controversy has ballooned.
Anders Carlberg, the outgoing chairman of the Jewish Community in Gothenburg, Sweden, said Israeli officials should have responded by publishing a rebuttal to the allegations in Aftonbladet.
"The stance of the community in general is that it's strange that this has become a government issue at all," Carlberg said. "It falls along the lines of Voltaire: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it."me talking this Jew in Sweden is scared to talk [/u]
In the United States, however, Jewish organizational officials were strident in calling for Sweden to condemn the report.
David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, called on Bildt to embrace the statement made by Sweden's ambassador in Tel Aviv.
"Assuming you disagreed with the article, all you had to say was that you found the report odious and welcomed the reaction of Ambassador Bonnier," Harris wrote in a letter to the Swedish foreign minister. "That would have been the right thing to do in a case that has garnered global attention."
Condemnation of the news story came from some unexpected sources, too. Matthew Cassel, a blogger for the pro-Palestinian Web site Electronic Intifada, called the Aftonbladet story "highly irresponsible" and said it “lacked credibility.”
But Cassel also said Israel was exploiting the controversy for its benefit.
Topic: Lets discuss the 'peaceful' swedes they have blood libel against Israel (Read 740 times)