Palestinian family: We never told 'Aftonbladet' organs were taken
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
The family and relatives of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, the Palestinian at the center of the organ-theft story in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, said on Monday that they didn't know if the accusations were true or not.
The family lives in the tiny village of Imatin in the northern West Bank. Ghanem, 19, was killed by IDF soldiers during the first intifada on May 13, 19
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He was a Fatah activist who was wanted by the IDF for his involvement in violence.
His mother, Sadeeka, said he was shot by an IDF sniper as he walked out of his home. "The bullets hit him directly in the heart," she said.
Ghanem's younger brother, Jalal, said he could not confirm the allegations made by the Swedish newspaper that his brother's organs had been stolen.
"I don't know if this is true," he said. "We don't have any evidence to support this."
Jalal said his brother was evacuated by the IDF in a helicopter and delivered to the family only a few days later.
The mother denied that she had told any foreign journalist that her son's organs had been stolen.
However, she said that now she does not rule out the possibility that Israel was harvesting organs of Palestinians.
Jalal and two cousins who claimed that they saw the body said the young man's teeth were missing. They also said they saw stitches that ran from the chest down to the bottom of the stomach.
"Obviously, they performed some kind of an autopsy on the body," the brother said. "When the army handed us the body, we were ordered to bury him quickly and in the middle of the night."
Jalal said that he and other villagers recall that a Swedish photographer was in the village during the funeral and that he managed to take a number of pictures of the body before the funeral. "That was the only time we saw this photographer," he recounted.
Ibrahim Ghanem, a relative of Bilal, said that the family never told the Swedish photographer that Israel had stolen organs from the dead man's body.
"Maybe the journalist reached that conclusion on the basis of the stitches he saw on the body," he said. "But as far as the family is concerned, we don't know if organs were removed from the body because we never performed our own autopsy. All we know is that Bilal's teeth were missing."
Jalal and other members of the family said that "rumors" about Israel killing Palestinians to steal their organs have been circulating for a long time.
"I can't tell you if these rumors are true or not," the brother said.
"But in light of the investigative report in the Swedish newspaper, we are demanding an international commission of inquiry into the case."
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Added: Aug 25 2009 In: middle_east
By: ellhow 
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Comments - sort by newest to oldest
Oh bullocks.
Tabloids have spouted about WW2 bombers in craters of the moon too.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "Drenigma" (R)
Any Israeli would rather die then have a piece of garbage put into them.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "JARtoosmall" (R)
Thats funny cause the article is titled "Palestinian family: We didn't say organs taken" in jpost ....
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "smellvir" (R)
Why is it that when I read any of these ludicrous "organ harvesting" reports, it's always in Borat's voice?
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "jjjjjay" (R)
Doesn't really matter, titles !MAY! vary from source to source.
You'd know the title matters even less if the fag in purple took his time to read the article.It clearly says that they do not know whether organs have been taken or not, as they did not do their own autopsy.
I shouldn't even be replying to you, you probably do not take your time to read anything unless it's something you want to hear.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "snade" (R)
Shit stirring 'journalist' inventing anti-Israeli propaganda is caught red handed.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "dorbie" (R)
Doesn't really matter, titles !MAY! vary from source to source.
You'd know the title matters even less if the fag in purple took his time to read the article.It clearly says that they do not know whether organs have been taken or not, as they did not do their own autopsy.
I shouldn't even be replying to you, you probably do not take your time to read anything unless it's something you want to hear.
That's a selective quote. They also say they have no evidence to support this and they say they never told a journalist his organs had been harvested. So this is pure invention by some idiot journalist. Of course now that the specter has been raised the family cannot say either way. It's complete bullshit.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "dorbie" (R)
The deceased's mother should have taken a knife and sliced open her son's chest to see what was in there. Or not in there. Any good Palestinian mother would have done this. If the organs were still in there, SHE could have sold them.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "warhog" (R)
The article published last week in Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest circulation daily, suggests the Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to harvest their organs. It sheds light on the case of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man, who was shot dead in 1992 by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Imatin.
Bostrom, who witnessed the man's killing, said Ghanem's body was abducted following the shooting and was returned at midnight %u2014 during an imposed curfew %u2014 several days later by the Israeli military with a cut from the stomach to the neck that had been stitched up.
Bilal's brother, who was 15-years-old at the time, recounts the shooting incident. "A number of (Israeli) soldiers ambushed (the Palestinians) and opened fire. The fist shot hit (Bilal) in the chest, the second in the leg. We believe that he was still alive after sustaining the two bullet wounds."
The mother, Sadija, told Aftonbladet that Israeli troopers could have arrested him, but instead they decided to kill him.
According to the family, the Israeli army demanded NIS 5,000 (about USD 1,300) to return the body.
"It was the middle of the night. The soldiers caused an electrical power outage in the entire village. Bilal was returned in a black bag; he had no teeth. The body was stitched from the neck all the way down to the abdomen," the Swedish newspaper quoted the mother as saying.
When Bilal's family asked what had happened to the body, the soldiers told them that it had undergone an autopsy in Tel Aviv. The family, however, claims Bilal's organs had been stolen.
Bostrom argued that an autopsy would be required if the cause of death was not apparent, while in this case it was clear that Bilal was shot dead.
After that incident, at least 20 Palestinian families told Bostrom that they suspected the Israeli military had taken the organs of their sons after they had been killed by Israeli forces and their bodies had been taken away.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "WarehouseEyes" (R)
palestinians are terribly horrible at propaganda.
the whole world watches palestine use its children and human shields and guided bombs.
the whole world watches palestinians shit where they eat.
that's why they've been kicked out of every country they've defiled with their presence...including their home country, Jordan.
There will be no peace in israel until the pallies are pushed into the ocean.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "Awsomatic" (R)
Are you an Israeli who needs an organ transplant?
Well, just go and shoot yourself a Palestinian.
But; do not do it on the Sabbath, or you will be severely punished!!
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "WarehouseEyes" (R)
fukken israelis.....i hate em
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "warriors4ever" (R)
I didn't change the title, they must have changed it.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "ellhow" (R)
I must say as a Swedish. Aftonbladet is known to make up facts as they go along, just to sell more copies. If the story isn't backed up by any other, more respectable newspaper, then i wouldn't take it to seriously.
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "sirspikey" (R)
this is the guy who wrote this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Abu_Toameh
isreal is obviously throwing their propaganda into the mix as well, to debunk the swedish newspaper perhaps!!
Posted Aug-25-2009 by "021_4life"