"And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

December 20, 2009 6:49 PM

"In August Sweden’s largest daily newspaper published an article containing grisly evidence suggesting that Israel had been taking Palestinian internal organs." The article was widely condemned as a vile and baseless antisemitic slur, "hate porn", "nothing but a modern version of medieval Jewish blood-libel myths.". Israel's "Government Press Office director Danny Siman told Army Radio that the anti-Israel article was not surprising and that the author was known for his anti-Semitic views." In Commentary Jonathan Tobin asked,

What does it say about a country when one of its leading newspapers deems a wild blood libel against Israel and Jews worthy of publication? [....] What must be understood is that this episode would not be possible outside the context of anti-Israel propaganda that permeates Europe.

Today, the Associated Press reports that "Israel has admitted that in the 1990s, its forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinians, without permission of their families."

More on Mondoweiss: "I challenged Haaretz writers on the organ-harvesting story last summer".

posted by orthogonality (18 comments total)

The Associated Press article actually says that there was small group of doctors at Abu Kabir who illegally, and without the consent of their superior, harvested organs from Palestinians, Israelis, and anyone else they could get their hands on, after they had died of other causes.
posted by Electrius at 6:55 PM on December 20, 2009 [5 favorites]

Oh, Electrius, don't confuse anyone with facts. It's so much more fun to insinuate the the Eeevil Jews are doing something wrong. orthogonality's on quite a roll tonight!
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:56 PM on December 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

Oh. No. He. Didn't.
posted by fourcheesemac at 7:01 PM on December 20, 2009

Is it even possible to criticize anything happening in Israel without being accused of antisemitism?
posted by Jilder at 7:01 PM on December 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

"Is it even possible to criticize anything happening in Israel without being accused of antisemitism?"

Israelis do it all the time.
posted by autoclavicle at 7:03 PM on December 20, 2009

Your first link talks about taking parts from living people. The admission about taking the corneas from dead bodies isn't in the same ballpark, the same league, or the same fucking sport.
posted by moxiedoll at 7:03 PM on December 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

No. It's not.
posted by Jimbob at 7:03 PM on December 20, 2009

Is it even possible to criticize anything happening in Israel without being accused of antisemitism?

Yes. Criticize the Palestinians who commit "terrorist" acts, and you're in the clear.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 7:04 PM on December 20, 2009

"We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."

I'd make a joke about Israelis finally seeing the world through Palestinian eyes, but that would be really tasteless.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:04 PM on December 20, 2009 [11 favorites]

Holy fuck, people.

Saying "OH IT'S TRUE THE JEWS ARE TAKING PALESTINIANS' ORGANS" is anti-Semitic given that what is happening is that some doctors were harvesting organs of whoever--Palestinian, Jew, Christian, whoever--without signed donor statements or family consent.

This happens in every country in the world, unfortunately, including the US and Canada and the UK. It's inappropriate and the doctors who did it should be disciplined severely, and safeguards should be put in place to stop anything similar happening in future. It's reasonable to criticize the Israeli government for not cracking down earlier.

But that's a far cry from the assertion that "the Jews" were "taking Palestinians' organs."
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:08 PM on December 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

Geez, there has to be way to accuse people of gross human rights violations without them getting so DEFENSIVE about it! Perhaps a singalong?
posted by Gamien Boffenburg at 7:11 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Was I not supposed to harvest organs without permission?

You know, I'm going to have to claim ignorance on this one. Because if anyone had said anything that this sort of thing was frowned upon...
posted by Joe Beese at 7:11 PM on December 20, 2009 [3 favorites]

Sidhedevil: "But that's a far cry from the assertion that "the Jews" were "taking Palestinians' organs."

It's true. I'm sure that the Palestinians will see that it's just some bad doctors, and this won't inflame the already hateful rhetoric that gets exchanged between these two groups.
posted by mullingitover at 7:12 PM on December 20, 2009

The admission about taking the corneas from dead bodies isn't in the same ballpark, the same league, or the same fucking sport.

But might it be on the freeway that leads to the off-ramp for the stadium where some sort of sport is played?
posted by MikeMc at 7:14 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Was I not supposed to harvest organs without permission?

Well, it's certainly not very orthodox. OR IS IT?!?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:15 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

In case you miss it at the bottom of the first link:

”Våra söner plundras på sina organ” (the original Swedish article)
“Our sons plundered for their organs” (English translation)

posted by Pinback at 7:15 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thanks, Pinback. I should have included that.
posted by orthogonality at 7:16 PM on December 20, 2009

What must be understood is that this episode would not be possible outside the context of anti-Israel propaganda that permeates Europe.

Today, the Associated Press reports that "Israel has admitted that in the 1990s, its forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinians, without permission of their families."

I agree that there's a bit of a leap from "a few bad apples(-a-day)" to "'Israel' harvesting organs". However, there's definitely a story here on Israel's OMGURANAZI defense. The "episode would not be possible outside the context of anti-Israel propaganda"? Really? When Israeli doctors are harvesting organs without permission there's no other way that Israeli doctors could be accused of harvesting organs without permission?
posted by DU at 7:18 PM on December 20, 2009 [2 favorites]