Echoing the famous line from the movie "Casablanca," Israeli police say they are "shocked" to find organ trafficking in their country.
Last week, Israeli police arrested six people, including reserve Israeli Defense Force (IDF) General Meir Zamir, for organ trafficking. A Palestinian woman from Nazareth was flown to Azerbaijan to have her kidney removed on a promise of $100,000 from the Israeli organ trafficking ring. However, the woman never received the money after her kidney was removed. An 18-year old male was flown to the Philippines by the Israeli ring in order to have his kidney removed with a promise of $80,000.
Reprising the role of Inspector Louis Reynaud in "Casablnca," Israeli Police Superintendent Ahron Galor was quoted by BBC, "We ran an undercover investigation and we were shocked by the proportions of this." However, there was evidence for the past several years that Israel was engaged in illegal organ trafficking and even organ theft from Palestinians killed by Israeli troops.
On February 22, 2008, WMR reported: "Francis Delmonico, MD, in a paper presented at a February 21 seminar at the Cato Institute in Washington in opposition to organ trafficking and marketing for organ sales . . . decried the fact that Israel is outsourcing kidney and liver transplants to Colombia and the Philippines. Israel has, in the past, been a center for dubious human organ trafficking operations. It is also the case that Palestinian prisoners in Israel have sought to sell their kidneys to feed their children. The Israel Medical Association is opposing a bill that would allow the donors of certain organs to be reimbursed by the state. The group claims this will 'open the door' to organ sales."
On September 8, 2009, WMR reported: "After the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published an expose of the Israeli Defense Forces harvesting the organs from young Palestinians killed by its forces in the West Bank, Israel's propaganda machine, which has its tentacles in the world's largest media companies and the Pentagon, went to work on demonizing Sweden . . . Aftonbladet and Sweden were accused of being 'anti-Semitic,' a familiar mantra from the Israelis when their human rights policies are criticized. The Swedish government rejected a demand by Israeli expansionist Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to condemn the Aftonbladet report on organ harvesting and trafficking by the Israelis . . . Israel turned up the heat on Sweden. Aftonbladet's editor Jan Helin was accused of being a 'Nazi.' Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was dis-invited from visiting Israel."
The Zamir organ trafficking ring advertised kidneys for sale at $140,000. With the arrest of Zamir, the Aftonbladet report stands vindicated as the arrest proves a link between the IDF and Israeli organ harvesting of Palestinians. After the arrest of the initial six people, two others were arrested, including a resident of Herzliya, the headquarters of Mossad.
