Israelis "Playing Mini-Mengele"

British MP, Iranian Press TV presenter and media personality George Galloway, currently leading a “humanitarian convoy” to Gaza, has a history of anti-Israel activity. But even his latest diatribe in a column for Scotland’s Daily Record plumbs new depths

Galloway refers to the unique barbarity of the Holocaust and how Jewish victims of the Nazis had their organs harvested and were subjected to medical experimentation. He then says:

But the revelation in the Israeli parliament in recent days that the body parts of Palestinian prisoners were systematically harvested without the knowledge or consent of their families has had an impact in these parts which it is difficult to overstate.

When the story first broke, on Swedish TV, I frankly did not believe it. Implacable critic of Israel as I am, it was beyond belief that a country calling itself the “Jewish State” could ever do such a thing.

I met the correspondent responsible for the story months ago and rigorously questioned him about it. I was not satisfied, and didn’t use the information. The man was offended and I owe him an apology.

Israel has admitted this evil, wicked crime and declared it no longer practises it.

While it is to their credit that they have stopped it and even more creditable that at least within their own people robust freedom of the press and parliament has allowed the truth to come out, there is little evidence of national soul searching of how such a thing could happen.

Still less of anyone being held accountable for playing mini-Mengele on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Galloway has deliberately distorted two separate stories in order to slur Israel. Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom’s blood libel has already been thoroughly debunked and deconstructed. However, the dangers posed by such a libel have already been proven. Since the article went to print, rumors of Israeli organ-harvesting surfaced in Ukrainian elections, were an excuse to ban Israeli doctors from an Egyptian medical conference, and brought at least one pseudo-journalist crawling out of the woodwork with copycat claims.

The recycling, however, of an old and unrelated story has added fuel to the fire for Galloway and others who seek to demonize Israel.

Top Israeli pathologist Dr. Yehuda Hiss admitted that his staff at the Abu Kabir forensic institute harvested organs from Israelis and Palestinians during the 1990s without families’ permission. There was actually no linkage to Bostrom’s false allegations, which libeled the IDF. The Abu Kabir scandal did not target Palestinians. Israeli soldiers, civilians, Jews, non-Jews as well as Palestinians were the victims of a domestic scandal that was discovered and dealt with by the Israeli authorities to ensure that such ethical lapses would not be allowed to reoccur.

Regarding Galloway’s allegations:

• There was no systematic organ harvesting of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails or, indeed any systematic organ harvesting of Palestinians – the allegation is simply a libel.
• While Galloway attempts to cover himself by referring to the uniqueness of the Holocaust, it is clear that he is deliberately making a comparison between Israel and the Nazis.
• Comparing Israel to the Nazis or attempting to draw false parallels with the deliberate genocide of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust is a tactic regularly deployed by anti-Israel activists despite being classified as anti-Semitism under the EU’s own working definition.