Palestinians seek organ theft probe

Several Palestinians in the West Bank have called for an international inquiry into a Swedish newspaper report that suggests members of the Israeli army stole body organs from Palestinians. The report, published last week in Aftonbladet, Sweden's leading tabloid, accused Israeli forces of stealing the organs from Palestinian men after killing them, a charge Israel has denied. But Jalal Ghanem, a resident of the West Bank village of Immatain, told Al Jazeera this week that his brother, Bilal, was one of the victims of the alleged theft following his death by Israeli fire in 1992. Ghanem said Israeli soldiers ambushed Bilal, a member of the Fatah movement and an activist during the second Intifada, at the gate of his family's home.
"They [Israeli soldiers] called him, Bilal, Bilal। He automatically turned, and they shot him," Ghanem said. A military ambulance then transferred Bilal to a helicopter at the gate of the village, his family said.

'Body opened'
Ghanem said Israeli forces returned the body to his family a week later, but it was cut and showed signs of being opened. "It was very clear that there was no abdomen, it showed from the way it was stitched. There were no teeth in his mouth," he said. Bilal's death was included in the Swedish newspaper report by Donald Bostrom, a Swedish freelance journalist. Bostrom said the report was based on his own eyewitness account of an Israeli army raid on a Palestinian village in 1992. He told Al Jazeera he was not anti-Semitic and insisted that what he had written was true. "The body was taken away and the authorities made an autopsy with this young man against the will of the family," Bostrom said। "All those things are actually true and happened. When the military returned the body the family said, 'We think they stole the organ of the body' because there was an empty belly.

Israeli outrage
The article has sparked outrage in Israel, with scores of ministers and commentators calling it anti-Semitic. "The statements in the Swedish press were outrageous," Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was quoted as telling his cabinet on Sunday.
"We are not expecting an apology from the Swedish government... We are expecting condemnation." The Swedish government has refused to apologise for the article, saying the country's press freedom prevents it from intervening. "If I devoted myself to correcting all the strange claims in the media, I would probably not have time to devote to very much else," Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, said. The newspaper commented on its story on Sunday, acknowledging that it had no proof of any organ theft but argued that the story deserved publication because of the issues it raised।

Source : Al Jazeera & agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200982510415994815.html

Israel condemned over evictions

The US has led international condemnation of Israel after it evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.Washington said the action was not in keeping with Israel's obligations under the so-called "road map" to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict।Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately।Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by the world community.The removal of the 53 people was also condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and the UK government.Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said he was outraged at the action.
"Israel is once again showing its utter failure to respect international law," he said। "New settlers from abroad are accommodating themselves and their belongings in the Palestinian houses and 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep।"

'Deplorable'
The operation to evict the Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city was carried out before dawn on Sunday by police clad in black riot gear. It followed a ruling by Israel's Supreme Court that Jewish families owned the land. Israel wants to build a block of 20 apartments in the area. The families' belongings were put on the street "I deplore today's totally unacceptable actions by Israel," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H Serry said. "These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory. "These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace."
The UK government said the Israeli action was "incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for peace". "We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda," the British Consulate in East Jerusalem said.

Sovereignty 'unquestionable'
Israel considers a united Jerusalem to be the capital of the state of Israel. "Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month. "We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy [homes] anywhere in Jerusalem."
The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says the houses are in what is probably the most contested city on earth and the diplomatic ripples from the evictions will spread. There are an estimated 250,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and 200,000 Jews. source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8180743.stm