I previously posted about the latest rash of scandalous photos coming out of Afghanistan showing U.S. military atrocities under Obama’s command, and wondering if the media would pick up on it the way they did when it was Bush’s army… Well, here’s a twist I wasn’t expecting: yes, one of the U.S. media, Rolling Stone, [...]
Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for the Atlantic, cast a spotlight on yet another disgustingly overt example of pure bias in the mainstream media, particularly at the anti-Semitic Reuters newswire. He points to a Reuters news item which contains the following despicable sentences: Police said it was a “terrorist attack” — Israel’s term for a Palestinian [...]
In the [sparse] reporting of the Palestinians’ massacre of the Fogel family, several newspapers stand out with their distorted sense of “balance”, i.e., where they feel overwhelmingly uncomfortable describing the barbarity of the Palestinians without at least taking a swipe or two at the Israelis, no matter how patently irrelevant or disgustingly disrespectful it comes [...]
Sweden’s New Twist On The Old Blood Libel
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Blood libels against the Jews have been around for almost as long as Jews have been around. They take various forms, but typically are one variation or another of the fabrication where Jews supposedly take the blood of Gentiles to use for baking matzah (which somehow still stays white).
A Swedish journalist has recently given a whole new twist to this disgusting lie. Haaretz is reporting that the top Swedish newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, has published a two-page spread, headlined “They Plunder The Organs Of Our Sons”, accusing Israeli soldiers of kidnapping Palestinians to harvest their organs, and then returning their dead bodies to the families with the organs missing.
The article relies entirely on tall tales spun by Palestinians. That the journalist, the editor, the ombudsman, and everyone else involved in publishing that filthy drivel didn’t stop to think that maybe some better evidence should be called for, considering:
- most Palestinians have an ax to grind with the IDF;
- the track record of Palestinian accusations have proven most of them to be liars, slanderers, hypocrites and revisionists of the highest degree (think: Jenin “massacre”, or the Rafah crossing deception, or their Holocaust denial, or their doublespeak between English and Arabic broadcasts, or… I could go on and on);
- they are hurling accusations at a national army, not some individual, which obviously can cause serious diplomatic issues; and
- the country in question is Israel, which is for obvious reasons quite sensitive about blood libels and would not take such repulsive attacks lightly.
One can only hope that the blowback for this huge error in judgment will be monumental and global to the extent that it will set an example for any future libel attempts. (Like I said, one can hope…)
UPDATE:
There is more description of the original article provided by Arutz 7 and by the AP (on Breitbart), also with more updated details regarding subsequent reactions and statements. One interesting detail:
In Stockholm, the Swedish Foreign Ministry distanced itself from that statement. “We obviously don’t think it is great to comment on what is written in the media,” ministry spokesman Anders Jorle told The Associated Press.
Is this the best that Sweden can do to redeem itself? This apparent lack of interest at decrying something so despicable only serves to implicate Sweden in the propagation of this slander.
UPDATE #2:
It looks like Sweden has finally woken up and smelled the coffee; they have finally issued a pretty strong condemnation, according to the latest report by Arutz 7:
The Israeli Foreign Ministry quickly condemned the report. “The article is a disgrace to Swedish journalism,” spokesman Yigal Palmor said. “In a democratic country there should not be dark blood libels from the Middle Ages of this type. The article embarrasses Swedish democracy and journalism.”
The Swedish Embassy in Israel agreed and quickly issued a condemnation of the article. “The article shocks the Swedes, just as it shocks the Israelis. We agree with the Israeli government, press and people that this is an unwanted article.”
“We cannot say anything more than to say that we entirely object to the article,” the embassy’s statement continued. “Just as in Israel, there is freedom of the press in Sweden. At the same time, free speech carries a responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the newspaper and the writer.”
Even though they do make the point of stressing their position of staying out of the media’s business, at least in this statement they make the important effort of condemning this article.
Another notable quote, this one by Donald Bostrom, the author of the article:
Bostrom admitted Wednesday on Voice of Israel government radio that he did not know if the accounts were true. “I conducted an interview on the story,” he said, “but if it’s true or not – I don’t know, I can’t say. I personally think it’s true.”
[...] recently posted regarding Sweden’s new twist on the old blood libel. Apparently, Sweden is not the only one having problems with insane journalists. Haaretz recently [...]
[...] recently posted regarding Sweden’s new twist on the old blood libel, where the top Swedish newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, has published a two-page spread, [...]
[...] the Swedish Blood Libel story almost every day. I originally posted about it a couple of weeks ago here (and updated that twice), then posted another new development [...]