The Aftonbladet article by Donald Boström
In August, 2009 the Aftonbladet ran an article by freelance writer Donald Boström on its culture pages. The article opened by mentioning the arrestsrelated to a suspected money laundering and organ trafficking operation involving rabbis, politicians, and civil servants in New Jersey, USA. Briefly introducing the problem of the illegal organ trade worldwide, Boström then related things he heard and saw during his stay in the Palestinian territories in 1992 at the time of the First Intifada.[8]
A photograph accompanying the article depicted a cadaver with a line of stitches on the torso, identified as that of Bilal Ghanem, 19 years old when he was killed by IDF soldiers on May 13, 1992.[9] The Ghanem family was not interviewed for his article, but Boström described his impressions of Ghanem's burial, which he attended:
Together with the sharp noises from the shovels we could hear laughter from the soldiers who, as they waited to go home, exchanged some jokes. As Bilal was put in the grave his chest was uncovered. Suddenly it became clear to the few people present just what kind of abuse the boy had been exposed to. Bilal was not by far the first young Palestinian to be buried with a slit from his abdomen up to his chin.[8]
The next paragraph of the article quotes other Palestinian families, and reads as follows:
The families in the West Bank and in Gaza felt that they knew exactly what had happened: “Our sons are used as involuntary organ donors,” relatives of Khaled from Nablus told me, as did the mother of Raed from Jenin and the uncles of Machmod and Nafes from Gaza, who had all disappeared for a number of days only to return at night, dead and autopsied.
“Why are they keeping the bodies for up to five days before they let us bury them? What happened to the bodies during that time? Why are they performing autopsy, against our will, when the cause of death is obvious? Why are the bodies returned at night? Why is it done with a military escort? Why is the area closed off during the funeral? Why is the electricity interrupted?” Nafe’s uncle was upset and he had a lot of questions.[8]
Boström also writes that unnamed UN staff members told him that "organ theft definitely occurred", but that they were "prevented from doing anything about it."[8][10] He also reports the response of the IDF spokesperson as being that the allegations of organ theft were lies, and that all Palestinian victims are subjected to autopsy on a routine basis. Boström notes that according to Palestinian statistics for 1992, Bilal Ghanem was one of 133 Palestinians killed, and one of 69 who went through postmortem examination. He concludes the article with his opinion that the questions surrounding what is happening remain unanswered and should be investigated.[8]
Israeli reactions
Government
The claim in the article sparked an angry reaction by Israeli Foreign Ministry official Yigal Palmor who associated the article with the medieval blood libel. On August 23, the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, called for the Swedish government to condemn the article. An Israeli official quoted him as saying: "We're not asking the Swedish government for an apology, we're asking for their condemnation." The Israeli Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, said that a continued Swedish refusal to condemn the article, might lead Israel to cancel a visit, scheduled for September, by the Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt. Steinitz told the Israel Army Radio that "Whoever doesn't distance himself from this kind of blood libel might not be a welcome guest in Israel at this time. Until the Swedish government understands differently, the state of Israel, the state of the Jews, cannot ignore anti-Semitic expressions and modern recycling of medieval anti-Semitism". The Israeli Government Press Office, which accredits foreign journalists visiting the country, said it was delaying its approval for an Aftonbladet correspondent and photographer who are seeking permission to enter the Gaza Strip by the maximum ninety days allowed by regulations.
In a letter to the Swedish prime minister, Congressmen Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA), members on the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, wrote:. "Given the far-reaching implications for this article, which raises the unfortunate specter of similar blood libels and spurious charges that have been directed at Jews throughout the centuries, it is critical that your government unequivocally repudiate and reject the heinous allegations expressed in this article," "It is essential that this vitriolic article not be used by anti-Semites, anti-Israel advocates, and extremists as an excuse to commit acts of violence and terrorism against the Jewish community in Sweden or internationally,? the letter stated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftonbl...el_controversy
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