Protesting "organs libel"
Protesting "organs libel"Israel news photo: (file)

Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom, infamous in Israel for his article accusing IDF soldiers of harvesting Arab organs, may be rethinking his story, according to Army Radio. The station quoted "sources close to Bostrom" as saying that he was “rethinking the whole thing.”

Bostrom told friends that if he were to write the article again today, he would make several changes. The original article included interviews with Arab families who accused Israel of stealing organs, alongside reports of an international gang including several American Jewish suspects that allegedly traded in organs.

The journalist recently visited Israel for the Dimona media conference. There, he defended his article, saying he had accurately conveyed allegations made by Arab families living in the Hevron region, and had never claimed to have evidence beyond their testimony.

He defended his article in an interview with Israeli television presenter Yair Lapid, who attacked the journalist as an anti-Semite, and accused him of falling for Hamas propaganda. The article was “normal” and “not just rumor,” Bostrom said, adding “if you had been there and had seen what I saw, you would do the same thing... the story has to be told.”

However, despite his defense, upon returning to Sweden Bostrom decided to withdraw from an anti-Israel conference in Beirut in which he had been scheduled to participate. Critics saw the withdrawal as a sign that Bostrom was reconsidering his willingness to stand behind allegations of Israeli organs theft.