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Blood Libel in Sweden

[Ha'aretz] Morten Berthelsen and Barak Ravid - "They plunder the organs of our sons," read the headline in Sweden's largest daily newspaper, the Aftonbladet, which devoted a double spread in its cultural section this week to an article claiming that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians in order to steal their organs. The report quotes Palestinian claims that the bodies of young men seized by the Israel Defense Forces have been returned to the families with missing organs, and makes a link to an alleged crime syndicate in New Jersey. The Sydsvenskan had harsh criticism for the rival paper, running an opinion piece under the headline "Antisemitbladet" by columnist Mats Skogkar. "Whispers in the dark. Anonymous sources. Rumors. That is all it takes. After all we all know what they [the Jews] are like, don't we," he says. "Now all that remains is the defense, equally predictable: 'Anti-Semitism.' No, no, just criticism of Israel." Israel Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor said the newspaper's decision to publish the story is "a mark of disgrace" for the Swedish press. "There should be no place for dark blood libels out of the Middle Ages of this type," Palmor said.
2009-08-19 06:00:00
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