Investigation needed

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Instead of waging a war on the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet for publishing an article accusing the Israeli army of plundering body organs from Palestinians, the Israeli government ought to open an investigation and provide evidence of what really happened. But no, the Israeli reaction has been the classic cry of anti-Semitism, drawing on mediaeval myths of Jewish blood libel (Jews' alleged sacrifice of Christian children at Passover to obtain blood for unleavened bread). This was also connected with alleged "rising anti- Semitism" to the point where the European Coalition for Israel -- an organisation working with the European Union to benefit relations between Israel and the EU -- sent an official letter to Foreign Minister Carld Bildt of Sweden, currently the holder of the EU presidency, to "call for an EU emergency summit in Stockholm to combat rising anti-Semitism and racism in Europe." Indeed, pressure on the Swedish government -- which has nothing to do with the article in question -- has mounted over the past two weeks. According to the Israeli press, the Swedish foreign minister together with his Italian counterpart will work to pass a resolution at the EU foreign ministers meeting later this week making it clear that the EU, under Swedish presidency, strongly condemns anti-Semitism.

But this doesn't really address the allegations made by Aftonbladet. The Swedish newspaper ran a story last month based on the testimonies of several Palestinian families who told the report's author that the corpses of their relatives returned to them by the Israeli occupation army had body parts removed. The gruesome photo of the stitched-up corpse of 19-year-old Palestinian Bilal Ahmed from the village of Imatin in the northern West Bank, who was killed in 1992, testified to the claim. Over the past decade many Palestinian families have voiced similar allegations, but it was only after Swedish reporter Donald Bostrom dared to voice their suspicions that the issue surfaced. On Tuesday, aljazeera.ne t website published accounts by other Palestinians echoing the claims published in Aftonbladet. Um Mohamed Al-Jarmi, a Palestinian mother and refugee in the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, told aljazeera.net's reporter that her 19-year-old daughter Sahar was shot by Israeli forces and killed in 1987. The mother recounts how the Israeli army wanted to take Sahar's body from the hospital, prompting her family to take it home. The army then surrounded their house and finally took the body, amongst others, to an Israeli autopsy centre in Abu Kabir, Tel Aviv. Seven hours later the family reclaimed her body. According to her mother, it was stitched from her chin to her lower abdomen and her stomach "felt hollow".

Israel might think it is the only state above law and even criticism. By crying "anti-Semitism" Israeli officials are only distracting from the main issue, which they are not addressing. It is true indeed that Israel's brutal occupation of Palestine, and its disregard and violation of international law, allowed it over decades to kill and maim thousands of Palestinians, in addition to expropriating their land. Operation Cast Lead on Gaza in December 2008 to January 2009 is only the latest episode of this brutality. Again, impunity reigned. It is no wonder that despite many accusations since the 1980s of Palestinian organ plundering, Israeli prosecutors have never opened an investigation. Intimidating the world by cries of anti-Semitism instead of addressing this serious issue only criminalises Israel before international public opinion. What is it hiding?