Swedish reporter defends Israel organ harvesting claim
Dimona (Israel): A Swedish journalist who
caused outrage in Israel with allegations that soldiers stole
organs of dead Palestinians defended his article today to an
often hostile audience in southern Israel.
Speaking at a media conference in this southern
Israeli town and often interrupted by hecklers, Donald Bostrom
admitted he had no proof beyond the allegations of the
families of Palestinians killed by the Israeli Army.
But he said he found the claims serious enough to
publish his August article, which sparked charges of "blood
libel" inside the Jewish state and a diplomatic spat between
Israel and Stockholm.
"One conclusion is that there has to be further
investigation into the allegations of Palestinian families,"
he told the rowdy conference.
Bostrom's article, published in Sweden's popular
Aftonbladet tabloid, alleged Israel secretly harvested the
organs of killed Palestinians, with relatives saying the
returned bodies of their loved ones had suspicious scars.
Israel vehemently denied the charges, with
commentators saying the scars were a result of autopsies that
Israeli law mandates be performed on all people killed in acts
of violence.
Israel has demanded the Swedish government condemn
the article that it has labelled an anti-Semitic "blood
libel." Stockholm has refused, saying that to do so would
violate the country's tradition of freedom of speech.
Bureau Report