How US donor bodies were sold for Israeli military training

This episode of The Take investigates a disturbing revelation: U.S. universities, particularly USC and UC San Diego, have been supplying cadavers to the U.S. Navy for training Israeli military surgical teams—without the knowledge or consent of donors or their families. The investigation, led by student journalists from USC Annenberg and UC San Diego, uncovered contracts worth over $1 million since 2018 that explicitly reference the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). These cadavers, often perfused with blood-like fluid and ventilated to simulate life, are used in combat trauma training involving gunshot wounds, IED blasts, and other battlefield scenarios. The ethical breach lies in the lack of transparency—donor agreements never mention military use, leaving families unaware their loved ones’ bodies were used to train soldiers in a military with a documented history of war crimes in Gaza. The story was sparked by a USC-affiliated physician’s discovery of federal contracts linking USC, the Navy, and the IDF, following the university’s violent crackdown on pro-Palestinian student encampments. Families of donors, including the 101-year-old Jeanette Volpin, express outrage and betrayal. Some donors have revoked their consent, and medical students have signed letters demanding transparency. The episode raises urgent questions about bodily autonomy, institutional accountability, and the moral cost of complicity in state violence under the guise of medical education.