A B.C. Muslim newspaper has apologized to Canada’s Jewish community for posting an article on its website claiming that Israel kidnaps Ukrainian children to harvest their organs.

The article, which originated from Press TV, Iran’s television network, appeared in al-Ameen’s print edition some three weeks ago and stated that Israel has kidnapped 25,000 Ukrainian children to be used for “spare parts.”   

Al-Ameen, a non-profit bi-weekly paper distributed for free in B.C. mosques and Islamic centres, was criticized by several Jewish organizations last week for publishing the article, which has since been removed from the paper’s website.

“It’s very disappointing when the  editor of a publication in this country actually feels that there may be merit to a blood libel story,” said Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B’nai Brith Canada.

B’nai Brith issued a press release last week condemning the article and noting that Press TV was “the official mouthpiece of the terrorist-sponsoring Iranian regime.”

“I think all Canadians should be very frightened to know that people in the media, in this country… would be willing to accept stories from other sources that are so vile, so racist and so untrue,” Dimant said.

“We are absolutely disappointed that those who run the mosques didn’t throw out the publication.”

Mohammed Bhamji, al-Ameen’s managing editor, said he assumed the article from Press TV was factual.

“It’s a mistake that we made. We took an article from some place assuming that it was true and fact,” he said. “It was untrue. It’s come to our attention… we’ve pulled it off our website.”

The public apology, which was posted on the paper’s website and in its print edition, states the al-Ameen “extends its honest and sincere apology to our fellow Jewish Canadians for any hurt which may have [been] caused by us publishing or communicating such a news article.”

The apology goes on to say that al-Ameen won’t defend the news article, because it would mean “causing further divide in our harmonious multicultural fabric – but it is needless to say that the issue of ‘organ harvesting in Israel’ was being discussed at the time of our last publication, by major media outlets, and not just al-Ameen.”

Dimant said the apology was insufficient.

“The fact that he even thinks that there is any kind of legitimacy to this horrific blood libel is frightening,” he said.

Len Rudner, Canadian Jewish Congress’ Ontario regional director, called the article a “piece of lying garbage.”

“Articles like this nourish small minds. It encourages people to believe the worst of other communities,” he said.

In its news release, B’nai Brith stated that the members of al-Ameen’s editorial board are also members of the British Columbia Muslim Association’s (BCMA) executive board, which runs eight mosques and a government-funded school.

Both the BCMA and al-Ameen have said that although some editorial staff may be members of the Muslim organization, the BCMA isn’t affiliated with the newspaper.

Dimant said the paper’s website had stated that the two organizations were linked, but the information has been removed.