Nearly 30 demonstrators waving Israeli flags, holding signs and distributing fliers lined a portion of Montgomery Street outside the Swedish Consulate in San Francisco on Sept. 2 to demand the condemnation of an article in a Swedish newspaper accusing Israeli soldiers of killing Palestinians and harvesting their organs.
“It’s despicable, and I want to do my part,” said Tatiana Sundeyeva of San Francisco. “The blood libel is appalling, and I’m shocked it hasn’t been condemned.”
The demonstration was organized by San Francisco Voice for Israel, the Bay Area chapter of the Israel advocacy group Stand With Us.
Using a bullhorn, leader Michael Harris alerted passers-by of the decision by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet to publish the story, which, according to newspaper accounts, provided no evidence to back the allegations.
“We’re not going to remain silent and sit by while these things happen,” Harris said. “We want people to know we’re paying attention to what the [Swedish] government has chosen to do.”
The Swedish government refused to condemn the article, arguing that it is not the government’s place to comment on press reports out of concern for freedom of the press. The decision incensed Israelis and Jews, and was condemned by Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier.
Amid tensions between the nations, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt canceled a planned trip to Israel on Sept. 11. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering not meeting Bildt unless he condemned the article.
Netanyahu voiced Israel’s disappointment over the matter during a recent meeting in Jerusalem with visiting E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
During that meeting, Netanyahu said that no one was expecting the Swedes to restrict freedom of the press, but that it was reasonable to expect the government to speak out against the type of defamation that in the past has led to the mass murder of Jews.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is establishing an inquiry commission to investigate the report, which claimed that IDF soldiers killed Palestinians in order to steal their organs.
Secretary General of the Palestinian Cabinet Hassan Abu Libda said the commission would be made up of the interior, health and foreign ministers.
The Palestinian Authority will decide whether to pursue action against Israel in the international legal arena if the allegations turn out to be correct, he said.
The controversial article, written by freelancer Donald Bostrom, ran Aug. 17 in Aftonbladet, one of the two leading newspapers in Sweden.
The Jerusalem Post, JTA and Ynet contributed to this report.