Israel just ‘broke’ a world record for kidney donors – but where did all the organs come from?

This week in occupied Jerusalem, more than 1,000 people gathered together, in an attempt to break a new world record – the largest gathering of live kidney donors. The event marked 2,000 kidney donations in Israel, and was organised by the kidney donation charity Matnat Chaim.

Israel kidney donations: a “world record for humanity”?

Israeli occupation president, Isaac Herzog, told the 1000 donors gathered together for the event that the record was “a world record for humanity. A world record for solidarity. And a world record for the deep and full commitment to one another, the selfless, the deep love of life and of people that is so beautifully embodied in our nation.”

But while the Israeli occupation brandishes itself as a humanitarian leader in organ donations, questions need to be asked about where this huge number of kidneys came from. Forensic evidence and human rights organisations reveal, beyond doubt, organ theft from Palestinians detained in the Israeli occupation’s prisons and torture camps. Many bodies have been returned from ‘Israeli’ custody with signs of surgical cuts and chemical burns, and missing organs – hearts, corneas, lungs and kidneys.

Calls for an independent international investigation

Dr Munir al-Bursh, general director of Gaza’s Health Ministry, says what is needed is not another record, but an independent international investigation to reveal the truth behind the numbers. He took to social media, saying:

The same authority the withholding Palestinian bodies for years, now boasts unprecedented “donation” figures. Did generosity appear overnight? Or are there silent bodies excluded from the celebration? The occupation has stolen organs from the bodies of Palestinian martyrs.

This is not emotion- it is testimony: Doctor’s accounts, bodies returned incomplete, organs missing without medical, legal, or ethical explanation….We reject turning humanitarian values into propaganda, and we reject building achievements on Palestinian bodies- dead or alive.

According to Euro-Med Monitor human rights organisations, the Israeli occupation has recently made it lawful to hold dead Palestinian’s bodies and steal their organs.

Pressure campaign by Zionist organisations around the world

Guinness World Records (GWR) has not accepted World Record submissions from Israel or the occupied territory since November 2023. Herzog described this decision as “flawed”.

GWR rejected the occupation’s initial attempt at breaking the world record.

But after a pressure campaign against it from Zionist organisations around the world, GWR has reversed its decision.

These organisations, which weaponise ‘antisemitism’ to achieve their goals, include UK Lawyers for Israel and a similar US organisation known as the Brandeis Center for Human Rights under the Law.

The previous record for “largest gathering of organ transplant donors” was set in Chicago in 2018, with 410 donors.

Featured image via the Canary