Agence France-Presse
August 24, 2009 08:19am
In an editorial headlined "The week the world went crazy'', Aftonbladet chief editor Jan Helinwrote that the first article on the case published last Monday "lacked'' proof of any organ theft.
"I'm not a Nazi. I'm not an anti-Semite. I'm a responsible editing executive who gave the green light to the publication of an article because it asks a number of pertinent questions.''
The tabloid followed up its original story that claimed Israeli soldiers had snatched Palestinian youths to steal their organs with an interview with the family of an alleged victim.
Two Aftonbladet reporters interviewed the mother and brother of Bilal Achmad Ghanem, a youth allegedly killed by Israeli troops 17 years ago when he was 19 on suspicion of being a ringleader in the first Palestinian uprising.
They asked his 32-year-old brother Bilal if they had any proof that his organs had been stolen.
"No, I don't have any,'' he said.
"But I have met people who told similar stories about their loved ones. We have heard many stories like this one.''
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, caught in the diplomatic storm provoked by the original story, was also interviewed byAftonbladet.
Sweden, said Mr Bildt, had to be "more careful in explaining to outsiders the way our freedom of expression and freedom of the press work''.
Asked if the newspaper should apologise for the article, Bildt said: "Aftonbladet is responsible for the content it publishes, not the Government.''
On Friday, Mr Bildt played down the diplomatic row with Israel sparked by the paper's claims.
When asked by reporters if the report would sour relations between the two countries, Mr Bildt said: "I don't think so.''
"We have very strong state relationship between Israel and our government. We are both open and democratic societies,'' he said.
But Israel yesterday pressed Stockholm to condemn the original report.
2 comments:
here's a good explanation:
http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/illegal-organ-tradingits-israels-fault.html
i also wrote about this. it is very disturbing but not surprising. the worst part are the gate-keepers supposedly fighting for the palestinians who couldn't wait to throw bostrom under the bus.
What 'anti-Semitic' publications have been carrying these stories?
For one, the JPost in a May 2007 article "Israeli suspected of organ trafficking "
The Israeli involved was Professor Zaki Shapira, one of Israel's leading transplant surgeons.
And another 'anti-Semitic' media outlet, the New York Times, owned by the Jewish family of Sulzberger and their story:
THE ORGAN TRADE: A Global Black Market; Tracking the Sale of a Kidney On a Path of Poverty and Hope
Another article on organ snatching from the JPost that appeared in their July 2007 edition:
"Police uncover illegal organ trade ring"..... in Israel, using cutouts in the Ukraine.
Yet another story from the October 2000 JPost, "Presumed guilty" about Scottish tourist Alastair Sinclair.
The family of Alastair Sinclair, a Scottish tourist, who allegedly hanged himself in an Israeli jail, was forced to bring suit for the return of missing body parts.
University of Glasgow pathologists, who did an autopsy at the request of Sinclair's family, found that it had been returned without a heart (which they suspect was used for a transplant) and without the crucial bone needed to confirm the claim that he died from hanging.
The Sinclair story raises several gruesome questions, one, did the family get the organs back and if so, how did they know they belonged to Alastair w/o DNA testing?
Post a Comment