What was published by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has taken the usual path of disputes and accusations leveled by the Israeli government against all those who address the issue of the practices of the army of occupation towards the Palestinians. In fact, the terms employed by Israel have come to form a lexicon ready for immediate use: blood libel, anti-Semitism, incitation to kill Jews, alongside reminding of the stances taken by this or that country at historical occasions during World War II or before it, up to calling upon memories of the siege of the Masada fortress and the destruction of the Temple. Let us just say that the Swedish newspaper's article was not particularly intelligent or brilliant. According to what was translated and quoted of it in English and in Arabic, the author attributes to the relatives of Palestinians who were killed by the Israeli army testimonies of soldiers removing vital organs from the bodies of Palestinian prisoners before executing them by gunshot. The journalist also mentions the scandal that was raised when the involvement of Jewish American Levi-Yitzhak Rosenbaum with a human organ trafficking network between the United States and Israel was revealed a few weeks ago. The aim to achieve broad media diffusion usually overshadows discernment and sound judgment, and especially the realization that this kind of article, which strikes the nerve of human fears of the danger of being violated and of becoming a “commodity”, in a way that accompanies and follows racist feelings, at the end of the day only adds fuel to the Israeli publicity machine, especially that the poor intelligence of the writer and the undeniable opportunism of the editors has driven them to link the report about removing the organs of Palestinians who have been killed to another issue, one whose main protagonist is Jewish American, which has flung the gates wide open for the Israeli government to level its favorite accusations against those who do not favor its policies towards the Palestinians. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has refused to apologize for the article and at the same time refused to defend the newspaper, whose editor-in-chief demanded that a stance be issued over the claims printed in his publication. The newspaper, which will find in both the Arab and the Muslim world those willing to defend it and assert the veracity of its claims, has given someone like Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak the opportunity to return to the refrain of “the Israeli army is the most moral army in the world”, only days after the Human Rights Watch organization published a report about the Israeli army opening fire on Palestinian civilians carrying white flags during the Israeli offensive on Gaza last December and January. It is as if the newspaper is, knowingly or unknowingly, doing the Israeli army a favor by diverting attention away from crimes that are documented and registered with international organizations, by publishing a report that reeks of a mix of connivance, political foolishness and cheap anti-Semitism. Not to mention that this dwarves the tragedy that befell Gaza, led to the death of more than 1300 people and destroyed thousands of homes that are to this day waiting for someone to clear their rubble – a tragedy which Israel, with its political and security institutions, bears responsibility for – into a police case concerning violations committed by a number of bloodthirsty soldiers. In any case, Palestinians and Arabs did not need another opportunity provided to Israel by a newspaper with obscure intentions, so that it may seize it to reiterate its worn-out publicity about morality and the holocaust, and play the role of the righteous preacher, while the hands of its soldiers and politicians are drenched in blood.
