Wednesday, August 19, 2009

First Venezeula. Now... Sweden?!


As reported almost everywhere (including one of my previous posts) anti-Semitic goings-on in Venezuela have been in sharp incline in recent years.

But this latest news from one of Sweden's largest papers, Aftonbladet, shows that the ageless hatred against Jews also refuses to go away in the Northern hemisphere.

And the report is all the more maddening, because it's so outrageous in its claims. So devoid of journalistic integrity, and so very beyond mere criticism of Israel (the new cover for anti-Semitism) that it's almost laughable. Almost.

Here's a sample as translated in today's Ha'aretz:

"They plunder the organs of our sons," read the headline in Sweden's largest daily newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, which devoted a double spread in its cultural section to the article.

The report quotes Palestinian claims that young men from the West Bank and Gaza Strip had been seized by the Israel Defense Forces, and their bodies returned to the families with missing organs.

"'Our sons are used as involuntary organ donors,' relatives of Khaled from Nablus said to me, as did the mother of Raed from Jenin as well as the uncles of Machmod and Nafes from Gaza, who all had disappeared for a few days and returned by night, dead and autopsied," writes author Donald Boström in his report.


Umm, "... relatives of Khaled from Nablus said to me..."? Now THERE's a reliable source. Due diligence, anyone?

Playing off the recent scandal in the U.S., where numerous politicians and rabbis were arrested on money laundering and organ trafficking charges, the left-leaning Aftonbladet story is here in its original Swedish.

If you want to read up on how various elements of the left Swedish media believe that IDF soldiers are harvesting Palestinian organs as part of their daily operations in English, check out the exposée in today's Ha'aretz.

It's wild stuff that is insanely beyond the journalistic pale. Sadder still, is the fact that people will read this and believe it.

Anybody know the Swedish term for "libel"?

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And while we're on the topic of outrageous claims against Israel, check out the following newsclip from WeJew.com. Where'd I put that gum...?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

interesting article. I'm sure it's a very small population of swedes believe this.

Over history, Sweden has treated jews better than places like the USA...

During the holocaust some 3,000 Jews immigrated to Sweden to escape Nazi persecution. They helped facilitate the rescue of many Jews from nearby countries. most importantly of all, the entire Danish Jewish community, some 8,000 people, was transported to Sweden in October 1943. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg also saved thousands of Hungarian Jews in Budapest as part of official Swedish policy.

from
Anonymous( gay loving straight jew)

Blintzkrieg said...

True enough. But if you dig a little further back in its history, Sweden also had a bad habit of forcing any Jews who wished to settle there to first be baptized as Lutheran and renounce the Jewish faith.

Granted, that was all in the 17th century... but still, not the greatest track record prior to WWII.

Anonymous said...

Lena Posner, president of the Official Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden, said…that Israel’s demand that Sweden officially condemn the article…”had blown the issue completely out of proportion.”

“No one even noticed the article – which is, incidentally, anti-Semitic and absolutely untruthful – when it was buried in the last pages of Aftonbladet,” Posner explained. “But the Israeli response pushed the journalist who wrote it, Daniel Bostrom, to the front of the stage and into the heart of the Swedish mainstream.”

“What’s even worse is that by making the preposterous demand for a government condemnation, the debate has changed from anti-Semitism to freedom of speech in Sweden: Instead of concentrating on debunking the story, they have made it a freedom of speech issue. The government is not going to condemn the article – freedom of speech here is sacrosanct,” added Posner, who said she could see how the Swedish mainstream media, which at first attacked the tabloid for printing the piece, were now supporting it, based on the principle of preserving the freedom of speech.

Track record...how about Avigdor Lieberman?

17th century...Way to hold a grudge!

from
Anonymous( gay loving straight jew)

Blintzkrieg said...

Anon,

It's a lonnnng way back, true. But if you look at the roots of much anti-Semitism in the world, the church has supplied ample watering of that tree.

But hey, Wallenberg and the fact Sweden took in the lot of the Danish Jewish community during WWII is pretty amazing.

And I won't dispute Posner's stance. She has a way better grasp of the zeitgeist in Sweden than any of us do. Still, a lie is a lie and anyone can access these stories from anywhere in the world. Stories are no longer "buried" when it comes to the Internet. So when this stuff gets published in a major paper, the credibility of such a lie is augmented. I believe it has to be called out.