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Minister Shalom
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Minister to shun Swedish writer

Silvan Shalom to avoid event attended by journalist behind organ harvesting story

Minister for Development of the Negev and Galilee Silvan Shalom will not be attending the Dimona media convention, in protest of the attendance of a controversial Swedish journalist at the event.

 

Shalom also directed his office to cancel funding for the convention, a total of roughly NIS 200,000 (about $60,000.)

 

Shalom's decision came after he discovered that Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom, who claimed the IDF was trafficking Palestinian body parts, was slated to take part in the event.

 

"I'm unwilling to be a party to a convention that grants a platform to an enemy of Israel like Bostrom," Shalom said. "I will not allow the State of Israel to fund a convention that grants a platform to such man."

 

Shalom harshly criticized Bostrom, characterizing him as "a person who created a blood libel against the State of Israel and its soldiers."

 

"We are talking about the crossing of a red line," the minister said.

 

Bostrom to get bodyguard

Dimona's Mayor Meir Cohen told Ynet that he respects Minister Shalom's decision.

 

"This is an ideological decision," he said. "Shalom is always wanted here. I regret the fact that he made the announcement in the last minute, but the convention will be held as planned. As to the issue of funding, we shall find a solution."

 

However, a source affiliated with sponsors of the event was much less supportive of Shalom's decision.

 

"If he thinks that staying away and failing to confront the Swedish journalist will make people forget the slander he published, he's wrong," he said, adding that the minister's approach belongs to a different era and in different regimes.

 

Meanwhile, convention organizers have decided to assign Bostrom a bodyguard for fear that radical right-wing activists will attempt to hurt him during his visit.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.31.09, 23:21
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