SWEDEN: Sweden refuses apology to Israel for controversial newspaper article.

Record ID: 395865

  • Title: SWEDEN: Sweden refuses apology to Israel for controversial newspaper article.
  • Date: 25th August 2009
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUTHOR AND FREELANCE JOURNALIST, DONALD BOSTROM, SAYING: "Take them seriously, give them the answer. My article is just referring to what the Palestinian families said and what the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces), the Israeli Army spokesman said to me. I didn't have any opinion, I didn't take any stand in the article. I just said 'they said this, he said
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sweden
  • Country: Sweden
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA341SSFXKK53EJCRIT9IEC79DH
  • Story Text: Sweden will not apologise for a newspaper article that Israelis claim is anti-semitic and the journalist who wrote it says it is part of a normal journalistic routine.
    The Swedish Foreign Ministry said on Monday (August 24) Sweden would not apologise for a newspaper article that Israeli officials say recalled historic hatred of Jews in Europe.
    The head of the the Press Service of the Foreign Ministry, Anders Jorle, said that both Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt had stated that there would be no apology from the Swedish government.
    "Both the Prime Minister (Fredrik Reinfeldt) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Carl Bildt) have claimed that there can not be an apology from the government concerning an article in a Swedish newspaper. If you have any aspects on what is published you have to turn to the newspaper or to the publisher," he said.
    Sweden has said press freedom means it cannot intervene in a dispute over the tabloid Aftonbladet's reprinting last Monday (August 17) of long-standing Palestinian allegations that the Israeli army may have taken organs for transplants from men who died in custody.
    "I would say that this goes for all democratic countries, the media is the fourth estate and it lives on its own rules," Jorle added.
    Jorle declined comment on a report that Sweden's ambassador to Israel was reprimanded for issuing a statement condemning the Aftonbladet article as "appalling".
    Bildt said last week his country opposed anti-Semitism but would not silence the media.
    The journalist who wrote the article, Donald Bostrom, said he had not published any new information.
    "Actually, as a matter of fact I wrote it a long time ago, already in the 90s and I offered a newspaper in Sweden to publish it at that time, they didn't want to publish it so I choose to publish it in my book, called "Inshallah". So actually this story is one of the chapters in my book, published in 2001, reviewed by 80 Swedish newspapers and magazines, and it's a success. Fifth edition is sold out now and no magazine or newspaper ever commented on this story before," he said.
    Asked why the story had caused such controversy now, Bostrom said it could be because of events in New Jersey in the United States where some Rabbis have been arrested in a corruption ring, allegedly involved in money laundering and illegal organ trade.
    He insisted he had told the story of both sides and denied it was anti-semitic propaganda.
    "Take them seriously, give them the answer. My article is just referring to what the Palestinian families said and what the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces), the Israeli Army spokesman said to me. I didn't have any opinion, I didn't take any stand in the article. I just said 'they said this, he said the opposite let's have a further investigation'. So it's just normal journalistic work and has nothing to do with anti-semitic propaganda," he said.
    Bostrom also said the Israelis could not expect a Swedish apology.
    "In Sweden we have a constitutional right of freedom of the press. No government can do anything about it, no government interfere even if they want, even if you pressure them they can't do it. These are just the democratic rules and I think the Israeli government should be aware about the democratic rules otherwise this conflict can be even worse," he said.
    On Sunday (August 23), Israel placed curbs on Swedish journalists as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Sweden's government to condemn the newspaper article.
    Israel's foreign minister compared it to the Dreyfus Affair -- the trial of a Jewish officer in the French army a century ago, which drew attention to anti-Semitism across the continent and inspired Zionists to promote Jewish emigration to Palestine.
    A spokesman for Israel's Interior Ministry said it was "freezing" the issue of entry visas to Swedish journalists, though those already working in the country would not be affected for now. The Government Press Office said it would take more time to review applications for accreditation from Swedes.
    The dispute has soured relations with the country that holds the rotating presidency of the European Union just as Israel is defending its treatment of the Palestinians against criticism in Europe of January's war in Gaza and settlement in the West Bank.
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has dismissed Sweden's argument about press freedom as a "fig leaf" for inaction.
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