Comments (0)Body Parts and Blood Libels
August 28, 2009Kenneth Lasson
Special to the Jewish Times
hough journalists are generally guaranteed great latitude under the principles of freedom of speech and expression, the profession itself has long recognized the importance of abiding by certain primary ethical principles.
Besides seeking and reporting truth, journalists in Western democracies are required by their own codes of professional ethics to minimize harm, act independently and be accountable.
So what happened in Sweden last week deserves comment.
The country’s largest daily newspaper, Aftonbladet, ran a prominent story in its cultural section headlined, “They Plunder the Organs of Our Sons,” which quoted Palestinian claims that the Israel Defense Forces had been harvesting vital organs from young men captured in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Needless to say, the article, written by Donald Bostrom, has created a firestorm of controversy.
“Our sons are used as involuntary organ donors,” relatives of Khaled from Nablus allegedly told Mr. Bostrum, “as did the mother of Raed from Jenin as well as the uncles of Machmod and Nafes from Gaza, who all had disappeared for a few days and returned by night, dead and autopsied.”
Mr. Bostrom linked his story to the recent exposure of an alleged crime syndicate in New Jersey. The syndicate includes an American rabbi who faces charges of conspiring to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant.
It should be noted that the piece was immediately challenged by another Swedish paper, the liberal Sydsvenskan. “We have heard the story before,” wrote columnist Mats Skogkoor. “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: inhuman, hardened. Capable of anything.”
Now all that remains, wrote Mr. Skogkoor, is the equally predictable defense: “This is not anti-Semitism. It is just criticism of Israel.”
The Israeli daily Ha’aretz was quick to point out that this latest blood libel joins a long list of false accusations against Israel and the IDF.
However, as the media watchdog Honest Reporting astutely noted, previous experience shows that even stories as outlandish as this one tend to take on a life of their own, with translations appearing on Internet sites maintained by Israel’s enemies.
Even though thoroughly factual rebuttals may appearr (as happened when the Jenin “massacre” was proven fictitious and the slaying of the Arab boy Mohammed al-Dura turned out to be a staged event), the Big Lie stories continue to fester and grow.
Aftonbladet denied any wrongdoing or ethical failure. Mr. Bostrom told Ha’aretz that he was “very sad to hear people accuse me of anti-Semitism,” but merely was motivated to point out the link to the New Jersey indictment “and the fact that there needs to be an investigation of the claims.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the article “hate porn, [which] has clear elements of medieval blood libels against Jews.”
Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier, called the piece “as shocking and appalling to us Swedes as it is to Israeli citizens.”
To which Aftonbladet editor Jan Helin replied: “It’s deeply unpleasant and sad to see such a strong propaganda machine using centuries-old anti-Semitic images in an apparent attempt to get an obviously topical issue off the table.” He accused the Swedish ambassador of “a flagrant assault on freedom of speech” for her criticisms.
As every journalist should fully understand, however, the freedoms of press and expression also carry certain responsibilities. Their own codes of ethics demand honesty and accuracy. Reporters and editors who violate those principles should be held to account.
Mr. Bostrom has long been a left-wing activist for Palestinian causes, writes Barry Rubin in a recent article in Canada’s National Post. There was no hint in his story connecting Israel with the organ-trading charges of a Jewish man from Brooklyn. His sources apparently were Palestinians.
Mr. Rubin also reports that Ms. Linderborg, Aftonbladet’s cultural affairs editor, was once asked, “What do you wish for most in life right now?” Her answer: “What a simple question. What I want is a free Palestine.”
Readers, whether American or Israeli or Swedish, deserve better.
Kenneth Lasson is a law professor at the University of Baltimore, where he specializes in civil liberties and international human rights.