Palestinians accuse Israel of organ theft

A diplomatic row between Sweden and Israel has emerged after a leading Swedish tabloid printed an article suggesting Israeli soldiers stole body parts from Palestinians after killing them.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros visited a family at the centre of the organ trafficking controversy.

Jalal Ghanem says his brother Bilal was airlifted by an army helicopter to a hospital in Israel after being shot in a Palestinian village.

When his dead body was returned for burial, an autopsy had been carried out without the family's permission, and the family suspects his organs had been taken.

Palestinians such as late President Yasser Arafat have previously accused Israel of organ harvesting, but no conclusive proof has been provided.

Israel has called the article "blood libel" and urged the Swedish government to condemn it.



Organ Selling, Organ Theft
Israel is arguably the world's leading procurer of vital organs from other countries, at least for its size. Just 3.5% of Israelis are registered organ donors. Their donor rate is one-fifth that of Europe so they acquire vital organs from other cultures.

The Jewish Diaspora provides an effective platform to broker organ purchases around the world. The Israeli government helps by paying up to $80,000 each to those visiting other countries to purchase an organ. Brokers openly advertise their services on Israeli radio stations and in newspapers.183

An American, "Jane Doe", describes herself as a "deeply spiritual woman". She used an Israeli broker to buy a kidney from Alberty Jose da Silva, a 37-year-old Brazilian man from a large poverty-stricken family. They met in South Africa for the surgery where Jane got one of Alberty's kidneys. He got $6000 though was robbed of it upon returning to Brazil. South African police later closed down this organ-selling racket. More