ALBAWABA - Khaled Al-Turani, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Ohio, caused a lot of trouble when he said that Israel has "the largest human skin bank in the world." He said these things while testifying in front of the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee, where he was against Senate Bill 87 (SB 87).
The proposed law being talked about in Ohio would officially recognize antisemitism and make some anti-Israel protests and actions illegal under the law.
Al-Turani posted a video on Instagram in which he talked about a March 2014 report from Israel's Channel 12 that claimed Israel has the world's largest human skin bank. He asked where the skin came from, saying, "Where do you think they got all this skin?" They have more human skin than both China and India.
He also said that the skin came from Palestinian bodies and that calling Israel "Nazis" could get you in trouble under the proposed law.
The comments quickly spread on social media, where they got both support and harsh criticism. Some people agreed with Al-Turani and said his comments were meant to show how much the Palestinians were suffering. Others called the comments inflammatory and unproven.
The controversy has also brought back old claims about organ harvesting. In the past, human rights groups and the media have raised concerns about how Palestinian bodies were handled after they were returned from Israeli custody. Some reports said that some of the bodies were missing internal organs. But Israeli officials have denied these claims, and they are still very much in dispute.
Activists brought up pictures and reports from Gaza showing mutilated bodies in online discussions, saying that these cases need to be looked into by the international community. Others wanted people to be held accountable and called for investigations around the world into claims of wrongdoing.
Critics of SB 87 say that the bill could limit political expression, especially in universities and civil society, by punishing some forms of anti-Israel activism. But supporters of the law say it is meant to fight antisemitism and keep Jewish communities safe.
The event has sparked a larger discussion in the US about free speech, political activism, and the limits of protest in light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
