Background:

• In November 2023, Guinness World Records (GWR) banned Israeli submissions over political and ethical concerns.
• After political pressure, the ban was lifted.
• On January 25, 2026, GWR recognized a Matnat Chaim event in Jerusalem with 1,000+ donors and 2,000 kidney donations as the record for the largest gathering of kidney donors.  
• This reversal came without public explanation, overlooking decades of investigations into illegal organ and tissue harvesting from Palestinian bodies in Israeli medical institutions.

 Palestinian Organ Harvesting Allegations: 

• At 13th session of UN Human Rights Council (March 2010), the NGO EAFORD (the International Association for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination) alleged that Israel was illegally trafficking in organs from deceased Palestinians.

• Israeli forensic officials, including former chief pathologist Yehuda Hiss, admitted to removing Palestinian organs and tissues without family consent. (Guardian, 2009)

• Israeli researchers and whistleblowers, including former forensic employee Meira Weiss, documented systematic organ harvesting practices during the First Intifada (972 Magazine, 2014)
• Swedish journalist Donald Boström (2009, Aftonbladet) reported Palestinian youths killed in the First Intifada were returned with missing organs.
• American anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes reported multiple instances of non-consensual harvesting and organized transplant tours by Israeli underworld brokers in The Lancet (2003) CounterPunch, The Huffington Post (2009), The New York Times (2014).
• International human rights organizations, including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, in 2023–2025 renewed alarms that Palestinian bodies returned from Israeli custody with missing organs.
• Dr. Munir al_Bursh, Director of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, reported mutilated bodies returned by Israel were "emptied of organs and stuffed with cotton and fabric" (Guardian, 2025)
• Criminal investigations uncovered Israeli-linked international organ trafficking networks in South Africa (BBC, 2003) and the United States (NBC, FBI, 2006–2009).
• American Activist Rachel Corrie, killed by Israeli bulldozer, had unauthorized body samples taken by Israeli hospital (Haifa Court, 2010). 
• Dr. Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, reported evidence alleging organ theft from bodies returned after previous detention in Israeli prisons. (MEM, 2026)

Ethical and Legal Context governing Organ donation and transplantation:

• WHO Guiding Principles (2010) require organ removal be based on free and informed consent.
• International Humanitarian Law (IHL113)  and Article 3 of Geneva Conventions prohibit mutilation of bodies and require the dignified return of the dead.
• Medical ethics demand transparency, traceability, and independent oversight.
  
  

We urge Guinness World Records to:

1. Immediately rescind the award granted to Israel for the “largest organ donor registration gathering.” By recognizing and celebrating this record, Guinness risks legitimizing a narrative of medical altruism that obscures credible and ongoing allegations of illicit organ sourcing.

2. Publicly disclose the ethical review process used to approve the January 25, 2026 Matnat Chaim record of largest gathering of Kidney Donors and Transplants.

3. Clarify why Israeli submissions were first rejected and later accepted, and what changed substantively in oversight or standards.