Down with YIISA, long live the new Yale Program for Antisemitism. YIISA director Charles Small will be replaced by Maurice Samuels, an expert in 19th century French antisemitism.
Perhaps the new center will do pretty much what the old one did. But I sincerely doubt it.
There's no political difficulty in studying 19th century, or 12th century, or 20th century antisemitism - at least much of the 20th century. But I doubt that the new program will explore Muslim or left-wing antisemitism. That would probably be denounced as 'advocacy' - although just what anyone is advocating is still a mystery to me.
More precisely, those topics are forbidden because any respectable scholar soon uncovers the genocidal ideology behind groups like the PLO and Hamas that requires exterminating the Jews (not just the Israelis). The scholar will also discover that those views are shared, across the famed Sunni-Shiite divide, by the rulers of Iran.
Charles Small thought this problem was critical and worthy of scholarly examination; we shall see if Maurice Samuels agrees with him. Or, to be more precise, if Yale lets him do so. And we'll see if the donors who supported YIISA will contribute to the new center.
Showing posts with label antisemitism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antisemitism. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
YIISA
On June 1, Yale University decided not to renew the contract for the Yale Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) which was established in 2006. Since then, several reasons have been advanced for this decision, among them that YIISA produced too few peer-reviewed publications, that it attracted too few faculty members and students, and that it was too often political rather than academic in its approach.
The latter criticism, I think, is telling - as a mirror image of what was really going on. For example, one Yale professor reportedly criticized the August 2010 conference hosted by YIISA, saying that too many of the speakers used antisemitism as an excuse to dismiss public concerns with the Israeli government’s behavior. So .... let's see. That means that the only way to discuss antisemitism is to spend most of your time criticizing the Israeli government. Speaking of rank politicization!
I attended a number of YIISA lectures and participated in the 2010 conference; at all these events there were indeed relatively few Yale students. At the time, I assumed that antisemitism could hardly compete with subjects like global warming or gay rights. Especially when, to be at all honest intellectually, you must admit (as did numerous conference participants) that Muslim antisemitism is an important and dangerous factor today. That observation, alas, brands you as a 'right-wing extremist' on an American campus.
I don't think this story is over yet; YIISA may morph into some other form and migrate to another university or think tank. Let's hope so.
The latter criticism, I think, is telling - as a mirror image of what was really going on. For example, one Yale professor reportedly criticized the August 2010 conference hosted by YIISA, saying that too many of the speakers used antisemitism as an excuse to dismiss public concerns with the Israeli government’s behavior. So .... let's see. That means that the only way to discuss antisemitism is to spend most of your time criticizing the Israeli government. Speaking of rank politicization!
I attended a number of YIISA lectures and participated in the 2010 conference; at all these events there were indeed relatively few Yale students. At the time, I assumed that antisemitism could hardly compete with subjects like global warming or gay rights. Especially when, to be at all honest intellectually, you must admit (as did numerous conference participants) that Muslim antisemitism is an important and dangerous factor today. That observation, alas, brands you as a 'right-wing extremist' on an American campus.
I don't think this story is over yet; YIISA may morph into some other form and migrate to another university or think tank. Let's hope so.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Jews leaving Europe?
David Rusin of Islamist Watch reports that a number of Jews are leaving Europe to escape the rising tide of antisemitism, reflected in a general atmosphere of fear as well as physical attacks on Jews. The danger stems primarily from Muslim youths, although traditional far-right groups are also involved.
He cites examples from the Netherlands, where EU Commissioner Fritz Bolkestein said Jews had no future because of "the anti-Semitism among Dutchmen of Moroccan descent, whose numbers keep growing," and Sweden, where the 700 Jews remaining in the city of Malmo experience frequent hate crimes. The population of Malmo is now 20% Muslim.
As Rusin writes: "It has become fashionable to equate the plight of today's Muslim population in Europe with that of the continent's oppressed Jews during the 1930s. However, one can tell which group faces the real threat in modern Europe by watching migratory trends. While European governments are planning fences to keep Muslims from entering illegally, Jews are exiting in droves. People vote with their feet."
This is the second time in the last five to ten years that there has been a reported uptick in Jewish emigration from Europe. I don't know the exact numbers, but things do appear to be deteriorating.
He cites examples from the Netherlands, where EU Commissioner Fritz Bolkestein said Jews had no future because of "the anti-Semitism among Dutchmen of Moroccan descent, whose numbers keep growing," and Sweden, where the 700 Jews remaining in the city of Malmo experience frequent hate crimes. The population of Malmo is now 20% Muslim.
As Rusin writes: "It has become fashionable to equate the plight of today's Muslim population in Europe with that of the continent's oppressed Jews during the 1930s. However, one can tell which group faces the real threat in modern Europe by watching migratory trends. While European governments are planning fences to keep Muslims from entering illegally, Jews are exiting in droves. People vote with their feet."
This is the second time in the last five to ten years that there has been a reported uptick in Jewish emigration from Europe. I don't know the exact numbers, but things do appear to be deteriorating.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
European anti-Semitism
Here's the latest update from the Jewish Policy Center on the continuing growth of anti-Semitism in Europe, typically masked as anti-Israel-ism or anti-Zionism. Check out the photo in the link showing a huge, overtly anti-Semitic sign at a soccer match in Poland.
The European Jewish Congress (EJC), a democratically elected representative umbrella organization of European Jewry, has warned of serious danger for European Jewish communities. EJC President Moshe Kantor noted that "anti-Semitism is at best actively promoted and at worst ignored by some officials in Europe."
Indeed, according to anti-Semitism expert Robert Wistrich, anti-Semitism is worse in 2010 than it was in 1910. The mix of leftists, Islamists and neo-Nazis is brewing this toxic stew, and the mainstream is doing little or nothing to stop them.
So why is it that Americans want to be more like Europeans? We must be nuts.
The European Jewish Congress (EJC), a democratically elected representative umbrella organization of European Jewry, has warned of serious danger for European Jewish communities. EJC President Moshe Kantor noted that "anti-Semitism is at best actively promoted and at worst ignored by some officials in Europe."
Indeed, according to anti-Semitism expert Robert Wistrich, anti-Semitism is worse in 2010 than it was in 1910. The mix of leftists, Islamists and neo-Nazis is brewing this toxic stew, and the mainstream is doing little or nothing to stop them.
So why is it that Americans want to be more like Europeans? We must be nuts.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Celebrating the Holocaust?
Denying the Holocaust, a pasttime of people like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinjad, is soooo yesterday. The latest, Clemens Heni reports, is celebrating it, as well as Nazism itself.
As he reports: "In Riga, capital of Latvia, Nazis will hold a remembrance march on July 1, 2010, to commemorate the German invasion of that city and country at that day in 1941."
And last May on Facebook, "dozens, hundreds, and thousands of German-Turkish citizens wrote on Facebook probably the most aggressive and pro-Nazi statements ever since 1945. They wrote 'Hitler don’t worry, we’ll take the rest of the Jews', 'Jews to the gas', 'I would like to kill Jews' etc."
Just think: Germany, Latvia and Turkey are all NATO members; Germany and Latvia also belong to the EU. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
As he reports: "In Riga, capital of Latvia, Nazis will hold a remembrance march on July 1, 2010, to commemorate the German invasion of that city and country at that day in 1941."
And last May on Facebook, "dozens, hundreds, and thousands of German-Turkish citizens wrote on Facebook probably the most aggressive and pro-Nazi statements ever since 1945. They wrote 'Hitler don’t worry, we’ll take the rest of the Jews', 'Jews to the gas', 'I would like to kill Jews' etc."
Just think: Germany, Latvia and Turkey are all NATO members; Germany and Latvia also belong to the EU. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Monday, June 7, 2010
Krauthammer on Israel
Columnist Charles Krauthammer writes that Israel has traded territory for peace and gotten more hostilities; mounted two military operations to disrupt, dismantle and defeat its enemies in Lebanon and Gaza, to an outpouring of international criticism; and now is under tremendously heavy fire for blocking the delivery of yet more arms to Hamas in Gaza. As he puts it:
"What's left? Nothing. The whole point of this relentless international campaign is to deprive Israel of any legitimate form of self-defense ... The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million -- that number again -- hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists -- Iranian in particular -- openly prepare a more final solution."
Never again, huh?
"What's left? Nothing. The whole point of this relentless international campaign is to deprive Israel of any legitimate form of self-defense ... The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million -- that number again -- hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists -- Iranian in particular -- openly prepare a more final solution."
Never again, huh?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The convenient scapegoat
Looks like another moment of transatlantic communion. The US government is demonizing Wall Street and the US financial industry to draw attention away from its monetary profligacy and gross mismanagement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The EU, with the Germans in the lead, is demonizing US and UK private equity firms with hedge funds: the "swarm of locusts" who descend on Europe and take away all its jobs.
As John Rosenthal notes, this isn't the first time such imagery has been used. The Nazis talked about the "swarm of locusts," but the term stretches even further back, to 19th century anti-Semitic attacks on a German-Jewish financier. Rosenthal includes a cartoon that shows today's 'swarm' as American - which I suppose is better than showing them as Jewish, although I suspect that that is the subtext.
The reason for all this is obvious: the EU and the Germans must do anything to avoid acknowledging that the high level of Greek debt induced the recent crisis. Because if they admit that, then they'd have to do something about it.
As John Rosenthal notes, this isn't the first time such imagery has been used. The Nazis talked about the "swarm of locusts," but the term stretches even further back, to 19th century anti-Semitic attacks on a German-Jewish financier. Rosenthal includes a cartoon that shows today's 'swarm' as American - which I suppose is better than showing them as Jewish, although I suspect that that is the subtext.
The reason for all this is obvious: the EU and the Germans must do anything to avoid acknowledging that the high level of Greek debt induced the recent crisis. Because if they admit that, then they'd have to do something about it.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Never again?
The latest: two Danish artists, one of them Jewish, put up posters in Berlin showing a map of the Middle East with no Israel on it. The title of the poster: The Final Solution.
Were the artists trying to shock Europeans by highlighting the existential danger facing Israel? No, they were recommending that Israel be wiped off the map, and suggesting Israelis resettle in the United States, Germany or Denmark.
So what do you think: is there - could there possibly be - any connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism? Of course not! What a ridiculous idea! (Thanks to Clemens.)
Were the artists trying to shock Europeans by highlighting the existential danger facing Israel? No, they were recommending that Israel be wiped off the map, and suggesting Israelis resettle in the United States, Germany or Denmark.
So what do you think: is there - could there possibly be - any connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism? Of course not! What a ridiculous idea! (Thanks to Clemens.)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
European antisemitism
In response to an email exchange with Sydney and Pauline, here's some background on antisemitic incidents in Europe. Earlier this month, the Stephen Roth Institute at the University of Tel Aviv stated that such incidents are definitely on the rise. According to its report for 2009:
"Anti-Semitism has peaks, mostly following Israel's actions. The number of attacks usually drops after the peak, but we have seen a steady increase because the level of anti-Semitism rarely drops back to what it had been prior to the peak."
How can this happen? "The intensity and the nature of the wave that began in January 2009 testified to pre-planned mobilization among radicals from the left and among Muslim immigrant communities, resulting in a well-coordinated onslaught which employed clear antisemitic motifs in order to de-legitimize the State of Israel and the Jewish people as a single entity."
Well you may ask why I'm quoting an Israeli report and not a European one. The EU has been putting out reports on antisemitism since 2004 but is plagued by the paucity of solid, comparable data. (Remember, this is the organization which can regulate the curve of a banana.)
"Anti-Semitism has peaks, mostly following Israel's actions. The number of attacks usually drops after the peak, but we have seen a steady increase because the level of anti-Semitism rarely drops back to what it had been prior to the peak."
How can this happen? "The intensity and the nature of the wave that began in January 2009 testified to pre-planned mobilization among radicals from the left and among Muslim immigrant communities, resulting in a well-coordinated onslaught which employed clear antisemitic motifs in order to de-legitimize the State of Israel and the Jewish people as a single entity."
Well you may ask why I'm quoting an Israeli report and not a European one. The EU has been putting out reports on antisemitism since 2004 but is plagued by the paucity of solid, comparable data. (Remember, this is the organization which can regulate the curve of a banana.)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The lie grows
Several weeks ago, I reported that the Israeli medical team in Haiti was already being accused of trafficking in human organs - a further iteration of the libel contained in a Swedish article last August.
Well, the lie surfaced in the UK this past week. Jenny Tonge, the Liberal Democratic Party's spokesperson on health issues in the House of Lords, called for an official Israeli investigation of these rumors. Here's how it happened, according to The Guardian:
"The latest row followed accusations in the online Palestine Telegraph – of which she is a patron – that members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had been harvesting body parts in Haiti.
She subsequently told the Jewish Chronicle: 'To prevent allegations such as these – which have already been posted on YouTube – going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.'"
Tonge was stripped of her position, but you can be sure this isn't the last we'll hear of this lie.
Well, the lie surfaced in the UK this past week. Jenny Tonge, the Liberal Democratic Party's spokesperson on health issues in the House of Lords, called for an official Israeli investigation of these rumors. Here's how it happened, according to The Guardian:
"The latest row followed accusations in the online Palestine Telegraph – of which she is a patron – that members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had been harvesting body parts in Haiti.
She subsequently told the Jewish Chronicle: 'To prevent allegations such as these – which have already been posted on YouTube – going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.'"
Tonge was stripped of her position, but you can be sure this isn't the last we'll hear of this lie.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jews leaving Malmo
According to this report, Jews are leaving Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, because of threats and harrassment. About 700 hundred Jews currently reside there. Last year, there were 79 crimes against Jewish residents, a doubling of the 2008 level; in addition, some observers believe that other crimes go unreported. Jewish cemeteries and synagogues have repeatedly been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, and a chapel at a Jewish burial site was firebombed in January 2009.
A local Swedish politician blames local right-wing extremists; a Jewish community leader notes that much more hate speech emanates from the far left. In addition, he says, a 'very small segment' of the burgeoning Muslim community contributes to antisemitism. Indeed, two years ago, foreigners made up around 40% of the population of Malmo. (Thanks to Daily Alert.)
A local Swedish politician blames local right-wing extremists; a Jewish community leader notes that much more hate speech emanates from the far left. In addition, he says, a 'very small segment' of the burgeoning Muslim community contributes to antisemitism. Indeed, two years ago, foreigners made up around 40% of the population of Malmo. (Thanks to Daily Alert.)
Friday, January 22, 2010
You choose
Here, thanks to Daily Alert and MEMRI, are two very different perspectives about how Muslims should treat Jews.
-- An Egyptian cleric, in a TV sermon on January 29, called on his flock to destroy the Jews: "The Jews are our enemies. Allah will annihilate them at our hands. This is something we know for certain."
-- Syria's chief religious leader, or mufti, called on Muslims to protect Judaism. At least, that is what he reportedly told a visiting delegation of American academics. Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and were treated fairly, he explained; his grandfather had a Jewish partner.
So which one is more representative? Actually, I think both are; the mufti is saying what people typically say to gullible Westerners; the Egyptian is speaking directly to his flock. However, if peace breaks out tomorrow between Israel and Syria, I'm perfectly happy to be wrong on this one.
-- An Egyptian cleric, in a TV sermon on January 29, called on his flock to destroy the Jews: "The Jews are our enemies. Allah will annihilate them at our hands. This is something we know for certain."
-- Syria's chief religious leader, or mufti, called on Muslims to protect Judaism. At least, that is what he reportedly told a visiting delegation of American academics. Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and were treated fairly, he explained; his grandfather had a Jewish partner.
So which one is more representative? Actually, I think both are; the mufti is saying what people typically say to gullible Westerners; the Egyptian is speaking directly to his flock. However, if peace breaks out tomorrow between Israel and Syria, I'm perfectly happy to be wrong on this one.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Clint Eastwood and antisemitism
Rachel sent me this clip from "White Hunter Black Heart," a 1990 movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, that appears to give Eastwood's views on antisemitism. As usual, they are unvarnished.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
More on Islamophobia
CNS News has some interesting statistics on hate crimes in the United States. Turns out the fears peddled by organizations like CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) of an anti-Muslim backlash and spike in in hate crimes are not backed up by data.
Quite the reverse: there have been no/no reported attacks since the Fort Hood shooting and the attempted destruction of Flight 253. Instead, "[i]n 2008, a whopping 67% of religiously motivated attacks were against Jews, while just 7% targeted Muslims — even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are comparable in size. Even Christians, at 9%, account for a higher share of victims."
So please, all my dedicated and wonderful readers: next time someone accuses Americans of being Islamophobes, push back! The facts are on your side.
Quite the reverse: there have been no/no reported attacks since the Fort Hood shooting and the attempted destruction of Flight 253. Instead, "[i]n 2008, a whopping 67% of religiously motivated attacks were against Jews, while just 7% targeted Muslims — even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are comparable in size. Even Christians, at 9%, account for a higher share of victims."
So please, all my dedicated and wonderful readers: next time someone accuses Americans of being Islamophobes, push back! The facts are on your side.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What censorship looks like
Clemens Heni (disclaimer: friend of mine) was asked to join the board of a new Journal for the Study of Antisemitism (JSA). He did, and their first issue contained an article of his criticizing the way the Berlin Center for Research on Antisemitism equated antisemitism with 'Islamophobia,' a supposed trend which any number of studies have demonstrated is a red herring.
According to Clemens, the editors received what they characterized as mafia-like threats. As a result, they dismissed him from the board. Daniel Pipes, who was also a board member, submitted his resignation in response to their decision (here are excerpts from his letter).
If you think the dispute about the importance and nature of 'Islamophobia' is a tempest in an academic teapot, think again. If the alleged trend has a solid basis in reality, why the need for threats? And why the need for censorship? Why not encourage a robust debate - and in the process raise the profile of a new publication?
According to Clemens, the editors received what they characterized as mafia-like threats. As a result, they dismissed him from the board. Daniel Pipes, who was also a board member, submitted his resignation in response to their decision (here are excerpts from his letter).
If you think the dispute about the importance and nature of 'Islamophobia' is a tempest in an academic teapot, think again. If the alleged trend has a solid basis in reality, why the need for threats? And why the need for censorship? Why not encourage a robust debate - and in the process raise the profile of a new publication?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Round two
Remember the fabricated Swedish story accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting the organs of Palestinian prisoners? Well, as this article from the Wall Street Journal points out, the story has legs.
It has inspired newspaper cartoons in Syria, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, as well as new and better fantasies, such as the Algerian one that claimed Jewish-directed gangs round up Algerian children, transport them to Morocco and then to Israel so that their body parts can be harvested and sold. Indeed, Iranian TV has announced that "an international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap children and harvest their organs is gathering momentum."
Nor does the story stop there. The Swedish editor alleges that Israeli doctors are grossly 'unethical' and many engage in illegal organ harvesting. The journalist who produced the original story alleging one case (unproven) now says there are 1,000.
It's hard to know where this will stop, but one thing is sure: it is already doing untold damage.
It has inspired newspaper cartoons in Syria, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, as well as new and better fantasies, such as the Algerian one that claimed Jewish-directed gangs round up Algerian children, transport them to Morocco and then to Israel so that their body parts can be harvested and sold. Indeed, Iranian TV has announced that "an international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap children and harvest their organs is gathering momentum."
Nor does the story stop there. The Swedish editor alleges that Israeli doctors are grossly 'unethical' and many engage in illegal organ harvesting. The journalist who produced the original story alleging one case (unproven) now says there are 1,000.
It's hard to know where this will stop, but one thing is sure: it is already doing untold damage.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The international literary circuit
The prestigious Berlin Literature Festival kicked off on September 9 with a speech by Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy. Here, if you have the stomach for it, is a brief analysis of her remarks by Clemens Heni and myself. It's the latest of the anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Zionist rants that pass for wisdom in many intellectual circles. Enjoy!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Human rights travesty
On September 29, the UN Human Rights Council will launch itself into another paroxysm of anti-Israeli venom, with the presentation of Richard Goldstone's investigation of "all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people" during the recent Gaza conflict.
Goldstone's report will be followed by one the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also on Gaza. As Anne Bayefsky of Eye on the UN reports, "Pillay's 80 paragraph report devotes 66 paragraphs to Israel and 8 paragraphs to Hamas. Her recommendations mention only Israel and never name 'Hamas.' In fact, she suggests that ... 'Hamas has also made public statements that it is committed to respect international human rights and humanitarian law.'"
The United States just joined the Human Rights Council, which in true UN Orwellian style is dominated by some of the world's worst human rights offenders. Just what will the U.S. representative will say in response to these reports? I'm sure most of the MSM won't tell us, but Eye on the UN will.
Goldstone's report will be followed by one the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also on Gaza. As Anne Bayefsky of Eye on the UN reports, "Pillay's 80 paragraph report devotes 66 paragraphs to Israel and 8 paragraphs to Hamas. Her recommendations mention only Israel and never name 'Hamas.' In fact, she suggests that ... 'Hamas has also made public statements that it is committed to respect international human rights and humanitarian law.'"
The United States just joined the Human Rights Council, which in true UN Orwellian style is dominated by some of the world's worst human rights offenders. Just what will the U.S. representative will say in response to these reports? I'm sure most of the MSM won't tell us, but Eye on the UN will.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Chinese organ transplants
Since the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is - rightly - outraged at the thought that governments would harvest the organs of involuntary victims, I thought I'd volunteer data on cases that do exist. The Chinese government just acknowledged that it has been selling the organs of executed prisoners; here's a BBC undercover video describing how the system works.
I realize that there's no clear link, as yet, between the Chinese government and the Israeli Defense Forces, but I'm sure some enterprising Swede will find one.
I realize that there's no clear link, as yet, between the Chinese government and the Israeli Defense Forces, but I'm sure some enterprising Swede will find one.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Swedish influence
The saga of allegations that the Israeli military shoot Palestinians for their body parts continues with two new tidbits.
First, the Jerusalem Post reports that the family of the boy whose 1992 death was cited had never talked to foreign journalists, although someone remembered a Swedish photographer being present when the body was buried. More and more, this looks like a story of Swedish as much as of Palestinian origin.
Second, the Swedish Chancellor of Justice has been asked (by whom I don't know) to investigate whether the articles constituted 'racial agitation.' That is, of course, ridiculous. The question is whether the articles were libelous - "a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression" (Webster's Dictionary).
Inasmuch as the journalist said he had no proof the rumor he reported was true, it would be interesting to see him defend his work in court. At least it would be in the United States; I don't know the Swedish libel laws.
First, the Jerusalem Post reports that the family of the boy whose 1992 death was cited had never talked to foreign journalists, although someone remembered a Swedish photographer being present when the body was buried. More and more, this looks like a story of Swedish as much as of Palestinian origin.
Second, the Swedish Chancellor of Justice has been asked (by whom I don't know) to investigate whether the articles constituted 'racial agitation.' That is, of course, ridiculous. The question is whether the articles were libelous - "a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression" (Webster's Dictionary).
Inasmuch as the journalist said he had no proof the rumor he reported was true, it would be interesting to see him defend his work in court. At least it would be in the United States; I don't know the Swedish libel laws.
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