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PANAJACHEL, GUATEMALA—Finding people is one of the toughest parts of a journalist’s job. When I was given the task of finding six Lev Tahor children hiding out in Guatemala, a country of 15 million people, with vast highlands that are easy to disappear in, it seemed impossible. When I hit the ground in Guatemala Tuesday, I immediately met with a local rabbi in my search for the children and their parents, who are members of the ultraorthodox Jewish sect. The Star’s Oakland Ross had helped me make contact with people who could help find translators. The rabbi, who spoke English, had little information on the whereabouts of the children, who are the subject of an emergency order calling for their return to Canada. The rabbi also said a local journalist spoke with a government source who said there was no record of their arrival. Continue reading at https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/03/15/lev_tahor_how_the_star_tracked_sect_members_hiding_out_in_guatemala.html

It is one o'clock in the afternoon, but it seems the electrical goods store in Rishon Lezion, where I arranged to meet the interviewees, is about to close: an iron shutter closes the entrance up to two-thirds of its length. I bend through the lower third and see them inside. The members of the families whose loved ones were sucked into the black hole of the "Pure Heart" sect are hiding, scared. "You don't know what you're getting into", they will tell me shortly. "Keep in mind that they can hurt anyone. Even you." Orit Cohen's relative is in the sect with his wife and six children. A relative of Oded Tweek is there with her seven children. Hali's family member (pseudonym) is in the sect with his four children. After the evidence of the acts of violence and abuse and the long hand of the cult leaders, I am beginning to fear. It seems that the only insurance certificate against harm to me, if indeed they are dangerous people as they are attributed, is to simply write about it. Continue reading at https://www-israelhayom-co-il.translate.goog/article/44923?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp Read this article in Hebrew: https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/44923