Comments (0)Jerusalemites Arrested for Organ Trafficking
November 9, 2009Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
Two Jerusalem residents, one a former Hadassah hospital employee, were arrested for allegedly facilitating organ donation deals.
Sammy Shem-Tov, 67, a former employee of Hadassah-Ein Kerem, and Dmitry Orenstein were arrested Sunday at the hospital, according to reports. A gag order on the case was lifted Thursday.
The men allegedly mediated between buyers and sellers of kidneys, according to reports.
At least 10 Israelis, most in financial difficulty, agreed to donate a kidney, Ynet reported. Donors were found through magazine advertisements.
Shem-Tov and Orenstein made tens of thousand dollars on each transaction, according to reports.
Selling organs is illegal under Israel’s organ transplant law that went into effect last year.
Israel’s Navy Seizes Arms Smuggling Ship
Israel’s navy detained a ship carrying a large cache of arms.
Soldiers on Tuesday night boarded the freighter ship, flying the flag of Antigua, and discovered the arms and ammunition, disguised as commercial freight, according to the IDF spokespersons office. The ship, named the Francop, was stopped by a special naval force about 100 miles off the coast of Israel.
The ship was then taken to Israel’s Ashdod port for further scanning and unloading.
The ship was en route from Iran to Syria, according to reports. It carried more than 60 tons of weapons, including Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, grenades, and mortar shells, as well as an advanced anti-aircraft platform that so far has not made it to the region, Israel Radio reported.
“The seizure of the ship was carried out as part of the navy’s ongoing intensive fight against terrorism and the prevention of weapons smuggling,” a statement from the IDF said.
Don’t ‘Wear’ Israeli Flag in Poland, Students Told
Israeli students visiting Poland have been asked to stop wrapping themselves in the Israeli flag.
Two longtime leaders of youth delegations to Poland said in a pamphlet that wearing the flag is disrespectful and against the 1949 Flag and Symbol Law, Ha’aretz reported Thursday.
They also are trying to draw a distinction between the serious visit and “stadium culture,” according to the newspaper.
“The students’ use of the flag is more reminiscent of behavior in football stadiums than memorial services,” said Gideon Goldstein.
About 25,000 students participate each year in delegations to Poland organized either by the Education Ministry or by the schools. The Education Ministry has previously ordered students not to wear flags, but it has not been enforced, Ha’aretz reported.
The flag “helps students cope with the intense feelings aroused during the visit,” a teacher told Ha’aretz.
Another teacher said the students’ use of the flag demonstrates “defiance against the Poles and a sort of revenge. It is entirely unnecessary.”
Palestinians Try to Knock Down Part of Security Fence
Palestinian activists attempted to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by knocking down a portion of the West Bank security fence.
Ha’aretz reported that masked Palestinian youths in the West Bank town of Na’alin breached a portion of the 25-foot-high section of the wall using a hydraulic car jack, as Israeli border guards fired tear gas. The wall section tilted back but did not fall completely, and when Israeli guards moved in, the Palestinians ran away.
The Palestinians, assisted by Israeli activists, also had hung a banner on the fence stating that “No matter how tall, all walls fall.”
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.