Haredim Attack Police, Snatch Woman's Body

Body returned after police agree no autopsy will be performed.

Haredim return snatched body to police
Group of ultra-Orhtodox men agrees to give back corpse of woman found in Mea Shearim in return for promise from police to avoid autopsy
Efrat Weiss • Ynet

A body of a woman snatched by a group of ultra-Orthodox men on Wednesday evening has been returned to the Jerusalem Police. The corpse was found in an abandoned building in the capital's Mea Shearim neighborhood and was snatched by several haredim, most likely due to their objection to an autopsy.

At around 7:30 pm, the police and Magen David Adom emergency services received a report about a woman in her 20s found in an abandoned building in the haredi neighborhood. An MDA ambulance arrived in the area and paramedics attempted to resuscitate the woman, but were forced to proclaim her dead.

A police car was dispatched to the area as well, and an initial investigation revealed that the death was likely not the result of a criminal incident.

But the affair did not end there. Dozens of haredim arrived in the area and, according to the police, began assaulting the policemen, caused damage to their car, grabbed the body and escaped. Additional police forces were dispatched to the area to help locate the corpse.

Three hours later, with the help of the ZAKA rescue unit, the body was transferred to a policeman's house, where it was examined in order to ensure that the death was not caused by a criminal act.

The police reached an understanding with the Eda Haredit organization that the corpse would not undergo an autopsy.

"ZAKA commander in Jerusalem Bentzi Oring arrived to handle the body, but was also beaten and pushed by those violent people, although these actions contradict the Halacha and respect of the dead," ZAKA spokesman Moti Bukjin told Ynet.

ZAKA officials said that Oring used his connections with the police and among extreme elements in the haredi sector in order to reach an arrangement with the body snatchers.

"He arrived with a ZAKA ambulance to the hideout and took the body. According to the arrangement, as long as there are no suspicions of a criminal act, the body will not undergo an autopsy and will be buried as early as tonight," Bukjin said, adding that the organization was shocked by the violent struggle.

'Stretcher march of 30 haredim'
Shalom Galil, an MDA paramedic, told Ynet that "it all began with a cause of a 25-year-old unconscious woman. We arrived in the area, tried to resuscitate her, but eventually proclaimed her dead… We waited for a doctor to prepare a death certificate, when a large crowd of haredim began gathering outside."

"We didn't say anything to them, but they found out that it was a woman and were concerned about an autopsy. The atmosphere heated up and I informed the policeman inside about the situation and asked him to call for help, but the help was delayed. In the meantime, ZAKA arrived to take the body outside," he said.

What happened next was defined by the paramedic as "surrealistic".

"I did not see the body snatched from the policeman. He said he was hit in the face, pushed down and that the corpse was snatched on a stretcher. I looked outside and saw a stretcher march of 30 haredim running with a covered body. They shouted, 'The daughters of Israel will not be deserted.'"

According to the paramedic, "It was a well planned operation."

This is not the first time that a death in the capital leads to a conflict between the police and the haredi community. In August, dozens of ultra-Orhtodox men rioted following a man's murder and tried to prevent the removal of the body for autopsy purposes.

The haredim hurled stones and iron at the police, who responded with shock grenades. Eight policemen and one citizen were lightly injured, and a police car and two motorcycles were damaged.

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Comments

[Bill]

"... the body was transferred to a policeman's house, where it was examined in order to ensure that the death was no caused by a criminal act.... The police reached an understanding with the Eda Haredit that the course would not undergo an autopsy."

I think there is a word for a post-mortem examination that is done to determine the cause of death. Hmmm, what's that word?

Right, autopsy!

Funny things happen when one corner of the mouth doesn't know what the other is saying.

[Chayim]

Congratulations to our heroic fellow chareidi Jews who respect the dead unlike all the other weaker Jews like modern orthodox and their ilk who by now would of disected this poor dead woman and dished out all her organs to every arab terrorist in need of body parts. These modern orthodox body part snatchers will disect a jew if the heart still works. A bunch of refined killers who mascarade as respectable jews are full of hate for chareidim.

[Maskil]

Outside Israel there is great respect for the Jewsish tradition of not defiling a body post mortem. This is true even in cases of homicide where the family does not see the autopsy as a conduit to solving the crime. In Israel there seems to be a loss of this Jewish value and autopsies are almost standard in any death unless a specific decline is made on the part of the family - and somehow this has been turned into an Orthodox custom rather than a Jewish one.

The greater misfortune is that even Orthdox Jewish law permits autopsies that may lead to hinder the murder of Jews in various cases, but because of the rigidity in Israeli society these cases are often ignored. Someone should stand up for the blood of the innocent victims, those that have been murdered and those victims whose murders stand to be prevented.

One would be hard pressed to find someone to contest this barometer: If an autopsy has a probibility of one in six million of putting the killer of a Jew in prison, thus deterring such acts in the future, then this should be sufficient to warrant the autopsy by all means.

Legistlation to prevent autopsies that do not meet this standard would protect the Jewish tradition in Israel and lead to a more uniform approach to this matter, like in the Diaspora where the approach of Jews is very alike across the various denominations.

[Attended many]

Its a matter of perception. An autopsy is basically only an exploratory operation on a dead person. You would permit a sick relative surgery to discover whats wrong with them, why not the same once dead. Swabs each can easily be returned with the body.

[seymour]

they are worried the body will be desecrated.

But seem not to care that the woman might have been murdered

[harold]

Hat tip - Harold

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2010/02/haredi-body-snatching-in-jerusalem-456.html

[Hometown Postville]

they are worried the body will be desecrated.But seem not to care that the woman might have been murdered
Posted by: seymour
I can understand their desire to honor tradition by not desecrating the body, and as someone else indicated, concern for the possibility that body parts would have been harvested ruthlessly, but this woman obviously was not respected in life. But does the possibility also exist that those who took the body did so only to protect the murderer? hiding behind religious convention? If so, this sets a dangerous precedent; overriding police intervention in what is obviously a homicide. Maybe I missed something in the article- any indication those who took the body were close relatives to the woman who were perhaps only trying to protect the family from scandal?

[effie]

So, what was the cause of death? Women in their 20s don't drop dead in abandoned buildings of natural causes.

[Critical minyan]

The bottom line is that the Israeli government is scared of a bunch of thugs masquerading as religious Jews.
They should not negotiate with these guys. They should arrest the ringleaders and jail them.
There should be no leeway given for people who act criminally in the name of the Torah.

[R]

How long did the charedim keep this dead body? Isn't it worse that they are keeping a body from being buried?

[danny]

So where are the obstruction of justice / hindering police investigation charges? Surely those who detained and punched the police officer(s) will be charged, right?

And by agreeing not to perform an autopsy, I guess the police are just closing this case. A 25 year old woman just died of natural causes, nothing more to see.

And I'm sure the next event involving a corpse will go just swimmingly.

[NMD]

It appears that now even ZAKA isn't frum enough.

[harold]

So, what was the cause of death? Women in their 20s don't drop dead in abandoned buildings of natural causes

Most "theme" based stories are interested only in conveying the story about the theme and have no follow up on its details. In this case the "theme" is the actions of the Chassidim. The authors don't give two craps about the women, as I referred to in the past when I discussed my contempt for the media. The media will "act" as if they care about what happened to the woman (which I referred to as crocodile tears) but in reality don't care and will not have a follow-up story. So if it turns out that she died from a cerebral hemorrhage, there will not be a follow-up story stating that this is what she died of. The story is dead since it does not conform to its theme, or entertainment value.

That’s the way it is. Her death is only a vehicle for the real story - the Chassidim.

[confused]

I would guess they agreed to do the least they had to do to determine the cause of death, ie not to carve up the entire body just to follow the standard procedure for a post mortem examination.

[Maskil]

If any of you read the articles, at the scene it already appeared that no autopsy would be required and that no foul play led to the death. While the populace was concerned over the lack of guarantee for no autopsy, there are very few reasons that a 25 year old girl dies in an abandoned building. One can assume that immediate signs of the cause of death were evident at the location (like drug overdose or suicide) that would not warrant any need for an autopsy. The press is not revealing details, but for goodness' sake draw some rational conclusions from what they can print.

[danny]

"One can assume that immediate signs of the cause of death were evident at the location (like drug overdose or suicide) that would not warrant any need for an autopsy"

Sorry Maskil, you're incorrect. The determination of drug overdose or suicide requires a toxicology test of the blood, tissue samples of organs, and the many other techniques involving a medical examiner. Ruling out other causes (such as poisoning) similarly requires an examination.

You can't make this determination by just looking at the deceased and listening to the "story".

[Maskil]

Okay, danny, I'm not a foresic specialist. But some cause of death, not involving homicide, was clearly present and evident to the police who arrived first at the scene.

[viewed many]

Theres only 4 causes of death, accident, natural causes, suicide or homicide. Its often easy just by viewing a body what the cause is. Dont forget they look for external bruises, vomiting, bleeding etc etc. Theres a whole host of things you can tell before you weld a scapel blade - my ex was a pathologist and I got to watch quite a few autopsies over the years.

You dont need a PhD to fathom out if someone died from an asthma attack, allergies or seizures. All you need is common sense and an enquiring mind