Comments (0)Report: Israel Admits to Harvesting Organs
December 22, 2009Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
Israel admitted to harvesting organs from dead bodies in the 1990s.
The admission came after the release of a 2000 interview with Dr. Yehuda Hiss, who was the head of Israel’s L. Greenberg Forensic Institute in Abu Kabir, The Associated Press reported.
Hiss told an American academic in the interview, parts of which were broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2 over the weekend, that the institute used corneas from bodies, including Israeli soldiers, Palestinians and foreign workers. Channel 2’s report said that corneas, heart valves, skin and bones were used from the corpses without families’ permission.
The scholar released the interview following a report in a Swedish newspaper that Israel was harvesting the organs of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers, an accusation that Israeli officials have denied, AP reported.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed to Channel 2 that the organs were used, but stressed that the practice stopped a decade ago.
Police, Palestinians Scuffle in Jerusalem
Israeli police scuffled with and arrested several Palestinians rallying at Jerusalem’s Nablus Gate.
The rally, according to the Ma’an Palestinian news service, was held Thursday to mark the conclusion of Jerusalem as Arab Cultural Capital 2009 events.
Police told Ynet the clashes came after the Palestinians began a march in the Old City without authorization.
Ma’an reported that police also broke up other cultural events.
Also Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a rare visit to Nablus to address a Capital of Arab Culture event.
“No one can compete with us on this,” he told thousands of supporters. “Jerusalem is ours and will stay ours.”
U.S., Israel Discuss Economic Development
The U.S. and Israel discussed economic development and high-tech cooperation at a conference in Jerusalem.
Delegations from both countries met Tuesday at the U.S.-Israel Joint Economic Development Group 2009 Mid-Year Review to discuss Israel’s progress towards meeting conditions for the release of 2009 and 2010 loan guarantees. The U.S. delegation praised Israel for being on track to meet its 2009 fiscal targets.
The delegations also discussed possible expansion of existing high-tech cooperation for the purpose of promoting job creation, innovation, and business-to-business collaboration.
The U.S. delegation was headed by Andy Baukol, acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, and Tom Engle, director of the Office of Monetary Affairs at the Department of State. The Israeli delegation was represented by Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, Chaim Shani, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, and Eugene Kandel, chairman of the Israeli National Economic Council.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.