Posted by
Pinchas HaLevi on Monday, August 31, 2009 12:00:00 AM
Israel-bashing and anti-Semitc rhetoric are increasingly being excused in the name of “freedom of speech.” Last week the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet claimed Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians to harvest their organs. This modern version of the medieval European “blood-libel” has created a storm of protest by Israelis towards the Swedish government. The Swedish Ambassador to Israel denounced the article as “shocking and appalling.” That could have been the end of the story. But, then, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, reprimanded the Swedish Ambassador and refused to condemn the Aftonbladet article because in Sweden, freedom of speech and freedom of expression are the highest values and part of the Swedish Constitution.
We need to pay attention to this line of thinking as it is commonly used to silence us when we are defamed. When other peoples or races are attacked like this it is called “hate speech” but for Jews it is called “freedom of expression.”
So let’s clarify this argument:
The major newspapers in Sweden have freedom of speech to print entirely false articles that defame other individuals and nations; but the Swedish Ambassador to Israel, does not have the freedom of speech to criticize or condemn the article. However, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, has the freedom of speech to condemn the condemnation of the Swedish Ambassador to Israel. The President of Sweden, Fredrick Reinfeldt of course, in the name of freedom of speech, is not free to comment on any of this. Gee, I’m confused. Maybe, in enlightened Sweden, freedom of speech is so advanced that only the major media outlets have this freedom and others who criticize them are not exercising freedom of speech, but rather freedom of thought, which of course is not allowed.
If there is freedom of speech in Sweden, then why is the Foreign Minister not free to express his opinion to condemn the truthfulness of the article? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Aftonbladet has significant political and economic ties to the ruling party in Sweden, or perhaps the Swedes really don't feel they have freedom of speech. But one thing we do know, we know how the Swedish government would have handled this event if it were a slight at Muslims.
Pinchas HaLevi
Making Sense out of Nonsense