US sides with Israel against Swedish article

[joeblow]

US sides with Israel against Swedish article

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... id=3510203


US Sen. Ben Cardin

Members of the US Congress have sided with Israel on a row provoked over an article published by the Swedish daily Aftonbladet on an organ-theft scandal in Israel.

US Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, who is chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe accused the Scandinavian daily of racism over the article which accused the Israeli army of harvesting organs from wounded or killed Palestinians.

"... When major press outlets fail to meet their responsibility, and instead raise the specter of racism or anti-Semitism, then public officials are duty bound to speak out and condemn such blatant falsehoods", the daily Haaretz quoted Cardin as saying.

In another move, US officials wrote a letter to Sweden's prime minister on Thursday and criticized him for refusing to condemn the article as blatant anti-Semitism.

"... it is critical that your government unequivocally repudiate and reject the heinous allegations expressed in this article," wrote Congressmen Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA), members on the Subcommittee on Europe.

The article They plunder the organs of our sons, authored by freelance journalist Donald Bostrom, sparked outrage among Israeli officials who immediately called on Sweden to condemn the report.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt however refused the condemnation, saying a free press is an integral part of his country's democracy.

SB/SME/MMA
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