BBC News (21/8/2009)
Israel is to lodge an official complaint with Sweden over claims in a newspaper that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians to sell their organs.The article was published in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet this week.
The Swedish ambassador to Israel condemned the newspaper article as "shocking and appalling".
The government in Stockholm has not issued a similar condemnation, and Israeli foreign ministry officials have reacted furiously.
"It is regrettable that the Swedish foreign ministry does not intervene when it comes to a blood libel against Jews," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.
"[This] reminds one of Sweden's conduct during World War II, when it also did not intervene."
The calm in the western Negev continues. Hamas refrains from firing rockets into Israel and its senior figures emphasize for Western ears its policy of restraint. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told a New York Times correspondent that “the fighters needed a break and the people needed a break.” According to the New York Times report, the decision to suspend rocket fire was “partly the result of popular pressure,” and occurred because people were questioning the value of the rockets, which they regarded as relatively ineffective. 
