The article didn’t say Jews are harvesting the organs of Palestinian children, ala the most primitive blood libels and the most cutting-edge Iranian TV. It said Israeli Jews are doing it. Even if that’s not true – and the reporter who published it in Sweden’s largest circulation daily says he’s agnostic on the question – that doesn’t make it a false antisemitic claim. At worst it’s just over-exuberant anti-Zionism.
And after all, isn’t rooting out innocent factual errors what the public sphere is all about?
Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Benny Dagan was expected to speak to the Swedish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday to protest the publication of an article in the country’s newspaper Aftonbladet that accused IDF soldiers of abducting Palestinians to steal their organs… The Foreign Ministry responded furiously on Tuesday to the story, saying it was a grotesque throwback to the blood libels of the Middle Ages. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor characterized the story as “racist hysteria at its worst. No one should tolerate such a demonizing piece of medieval blood libel that surely encourages hate crimes against Jews,” Palmor said. “This is a shame to freedom of expression, and all Swedes should reject it unconditionally.”
Stop trying to use charges of antisemitism to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel, Likudniks.
References:
* What’s Next? Eating Babies? [MR]
* Israel furious over Swedish newspaper article [AP]
* Israel aghast at Swedish report on IDF [JPost]
Previously:
* One Jerusalem Conference Call With George Gilder: Israel Is The “Crucial Battlefield For Capitalism In The World”
* Human Rights Watch Shill Has Meltdown – Rants About “Sharanskys Of The World,” Dares Critics To Find “One Incident” Of HRW Bias (UPDATED: Nasrallah Bragged About Using Human Shields)
* Iran PressTV Blows The Lid Off Anti-Obama Birther Conspiracy Theories. Turns Out: Jews.
