Last summer Aftonbladet, a Swedish newspaper, printed allegations that Israeli soldiers had taken organs from Palestinian youths they had killed, putting the tissue on the transplant market. An Israeli official called the story anti-Semitic "hate porn," and Haaretz denounced it. Today the AP reports that an Israeli official has admitted that state forensic pathologists harvested organs. The news caused Bruce Wolman to send an email [1] to Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid and Haaretz columnist Tom Segev, and to dig out an email [2] he sent the men last summer.
1. Barak and Tom,
Neither one of you would give any credence to these accusations of organ-harvesting by Israel during the Aftonbladet incident back in August.
I suggested to both of you in an email that this was an issue Ha’aretz should investigate, not deny as ridiculous or insane. My email received no response.
It seems Ha’aretz’s journalism on this story reached the same levels as Aftonbladet’s: Insufficient actual investigating and reporting.
When is the Israeli Foreign Minister going to apologize to the Swedish government?
Sincerely,
Bruce Wolman
2.
Date: August 25, 2009 12:10:58 PM EDT
To: [Barak Ravid and Tom Segev]
Barak Ravid and/or Tom Segev,
I’ve noticed that the Aftonbladet story is off the front pages in both Sweden and Israel today. It seems PM Netanyahu is busy for the moment setting the Brits and Americans straight on settlements and Jerusalem.
After surveying last week’s diplomatic fireworks, it was my conclusion that the Israeli press should investigate and disprove the charges in the Boström article, much as the Norwegian press acted earlier this year when the Jerusalem Post wrote a series of false articles claiming anti-Semitism in Norway.
However, I see that Ha’aretz in an editorial has already concluded that the Swedish article is an outrageous slander not worthy of investigation.
Donald Bostrom, a veteran Swedish journalist, wrote a despicable, utterly baseless article for the tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet last week, claiming that Israel harvests the organs of Palestinians it has kidnapped or killed. The country’s excoriation was a testament to poor and unprofessional journalism, and to the low point Israel’s standing has reached in Europe. The demands of both the correspondent and his newspaper that Israel investigate the charges are also baseless – not every bit of outrageous slander is worthy of investigation.
My question to Ha’aretz: Is this conclusion based on your own investigations and knowledge, or is it based on your belief that no element of the IDF is or was capable of engaging in such activities?
To whom at Ha’aretz might I address this question?
I can understand that a claim such as Jews need the blood of Jewish children to make matzohs is such an outrageous slander that to investigate such a charge would be ridiculous, as nobody has ever seen a Jew making matzoh out of blood. But there is plenty of evidence that a number of Israelis have been involved in organ trafficking scandals through the years, and that the Israeli medical system itself has supported the purchase of organs. Is it really impossible to believe that certain elements of the IDF might have trafficked in organs at some point? The circumstances surrounding the killings Boström mentioned should have been investigated even without the charge of organ snatching.
Regards,
Bruce Wolman
“as nobody has ever seen a Jew making matzoh out of blood”
I tried it once. They were terrible! Never again!
Try the old German recipe for soap bars and lampshades.
(Joke alert)Jews are using blood of Jewish children ??? Phew, what a relief….. I was so scared as a child thinking it was christian children!
Again,
The report that Phil posted earlier today was that scientists used Jewish and Palestinian organs in scientific research. Its the same method by which early biologists undertook any research, and also the method by which Frankenstein story occurred.
That is a DIFFERENT story than the Swedish one, which was that Israelis sought out Palestinian individuals specifically, to intentionally desecrate only their bodies.
And it in no way resembles the questionably scientific ethics employed by the Nazis toward their captive population, huh.
witty.
the way the swedish story differed from this one was the swedish story asserted palestinians were killed for their organs. there were numerous instances in the 90′s of palestinians asserting their children had been arrested and then died in custody, then the bodies were returned missing organs.
the story resurfaced after new jersey arrests. at that time i did a little googling and found out about hiss and the previous investigations involving israeli soldiers. the father of one soldier, a doctor, ordered a private autopsy and the results confirmed organs were missing. it was then hiss was investigated and literally thousands of oragnas and bones were discovered in a warehouse. this was all reported in the press at the time with the explanation the organs were used for medical research but everyone knows organs are sought after and sold in israel. it stands to reason someone who is ethically challenged enough to steal body parts without permission might traffic in them also.
it made no sense to me dr hiss would take the effort to evade stealing palestinian body organs, as if he had more respect for them than the jewish and israeli bodies.
as far as procuring palestinians for the use of their organs? this has never been investigated or confirmed in israel as far as i know. but several years prior to the discovery the chief pathologist in israel was stealing body parts, many palestinian mothers claimed their sons were arrested either in health or wounded and returned to them in the conditioned mentioned. it was written about and documented at the time and no one listened. there was also the case of the man from scotland , another damning story as he allegedly hung himself after being detained at customed but when the body was returned some organs missing plus the bone in the neck that would have confirmed the alleged hanging was also removed.
Its the same method by which early biologists undertook any research
i don’t believe it’s the ethics of using organs for medical research that is in question. it is the ethics of stealing them, especially when their are laws against it.
I researched this yesterday–annie’s summary is very accurate. Witty could have done the same research easily.
That would require Witty to posses a genuine iota of academic integrity. He doesn’t.
‘early biologists’? you mean grave robbers, don’t you? always the propaganda spin.
Oh Richard, don’t do this to me! It’s not fair! I just wrote on another thread that you at least make a pretense of recognising civilised norms, and now this.
Can you really not know how people expect their deceased loved ones to be treated? Or is it just that you think the world shares your dehumanisation of Palestinians.
So, you figure any state that wants to can keep the bodies of Jews in a morgue for a couple of weeks, ignoring the Jewish tradition of burial in twenty-four hours whenever possible. Not imp0rtant, huh?
Witty,
as I pointed out in the original post comments if even on Palestinian used as a human shield by israel was killed and had tissue removed without consent of the victim’s family then, yes, israel is killing Palestinians and harvesting their organs … it matters little the how and the why – it matters that it happened
… now if we were talking about Kansans and Nebraskans and victims of highway accidents I doubt anyone would have a problem with this practice for medical life-saving and “scientific” purposes … but in the world’s most volatile political hot spot, yeah, it’s a damn big deal and makes israel look even more selfish, arrogant, callous, inhumane and cruel (if that’s possible)
I recall that earlier this year an Israeli soldier was autopsied and a huge stink arose over this – but no one made the connection that, hey, if they’re doing this sort of thing to Jews, how much more likely that they’re doing it to Arabs.
radii wrote:
“as I pointed out in the original post comments if even on [sic] Palestinian used as a human shield by israel was killed and had tissue removed without consent of the victim’s family then, yes, israel is killing Palestinians and harvesting their organs … it matters little the how and the why – it matters that it happened”
This is absolutely spot on and no-one should lose sight of its laser-like validity and get distracted from it. I have to believe this is a war crime/crime against humanity, and given that it’s now been admitted I fail to see how this is not going to make it to the Hague.
… now if we were talking about Kansans and Nebraskans and victims of highway accidents I doubt anyone would have a problem with this practice for medical life-saving and “scientific” purposes …
Actually, even then it is wrong and probably illegal (in the United States at least) without prior permission of the deceased (which is given or not at time of driver’s license application or renewal in the six states I’ve lived in) or post-mortem consent from family. Whatever the circumstance, harvesting organs without permission is a vile desecration. How we treat our dead is a fundamental aspect of our humanity, and anyone who desecrates human remains is missing a serious piece of theirs, and should be punished to the full extent of the law. That such allegations were pooh-pah’ed and went un-investigated says something about the Israeli government and the people who knee-jerk support it, regardless of which particular newspaper story or incident the present stink is over.
Thanks, Colin. No, you can’t just start pulling parts out of people as soon as they die. Not even in Nebraska.
What many may be passing over is the amazing amount of coordination that has to take place, in order for this to occur. The only thing that the Israelis can do is try to limit it to a criminal contingency, but it is going to be very difficult to do this because that have made autopsy a “policy” when killing the Palestinians.
In other words, it makes the autopsy policy as suspect as any other in a murderous occupation, it skews all of the institutions of the offending country.
one thing that stuck me as completely strange and abnormal was that hiss did not loose his job over this after the earlier investigation. he remained chief pathologist. one would think a country like israel would have an assortment of qualified candidates for this position. why employ someone once it has been established his ethics are challenged regarding such a vital matter. it calls into question the system along w/the man. israel is a small country, hiss was not chief pathologist for one hospital, he served as chief pathologist for israel.
Considering this question, I think of Israelis who have committed all sorts of vile deeds and remained in their offices and positions. Like presidents and prime ministers, like MKs whose speeches are full of racist incitement. Actions for which, in normal countries, would cause them to be sacked or slink off in disgrace. Not in Israel. In Israel, everyone seems to cling to their job and never be kicked out.
I’m sure there are examples that contradict this impression, but the impression is certainly strong.
They don’t merely cling to their jobs — they get accolades for crap like this.
perhaps they find his untowardness useful.
Exactly, Hiss the man who was the chief during this horrendous adventure, is still the Chief Pathologist of the entire hospital…
He should be in the Hague.
Witty,
Your Swedish is as fantastical as you reasoning abilities. The Swedish article said nothing of what you just wrote. Do you just make this shit up?
This is just another PATHETIC example of your intellectual LAZINESS.
Stop wasting our time replying to your stream-of-consciousness ramblings.
Bruce Wolman,
Good for you for pursuing this the way you have. My hat’s off to you for putting your concerns and thoughts on the (web) record. I am going to keep a library copy of this page in the event it ever gets erased from archive.org.
Check out HuffPo’s moderation markers on this story:
link to huffingtonpost.com
46 comments, and 183 pending. You never see this kind of percentage on a story involving Muslims on HuffPo.
Oh that’s not unusually. Watch — once they get down to sifting those comments, between 30% to 50% of the comments they approve will belong to StCuthbert and TheLonelyGod. Happens on pretty much any topic about Israelis or Palestinians.
Taxi can back me up on this too. Right around January of this last year, Huff Po moderation shifted in a continental fashion, and Zionist posts overwhelmingly get through. Huff Po actually ended up pulling down one of Max Blumenthal’s video documentaries, and another one was given a total hit and run smear job by the GIYUS crowd.
It’s disgraceful, really. Honestly, Huff Po is mostly just reprinting stuff you can find elsewhere, so given how corrupted their comment moderation has become, I personally go elsewhere for the news and commentary.