The French Court of Appeals has overturned the libel judgment against Phillipe Karsenty, determining that Karsenty did not libel France 2 correspondent Charles Enderlin when he reported that the 'death' of 12-year old Mohamed Al-Dura at the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip in September 2000 may have been staged. The incident was used worldwide to smear the Israel Defense Forces and blacken Israel's name, inciting further violence and fueling the Second Intifada.
The boy's reported death from alleged IDF fire served as a pretext for countless acts of violence against non-Muslims. According to Middle East and media expert Tom Gross, "Osama bin Laden referred to al-Dura in a post-9/11 video; the killers of Wall St. Journal reporter Daniel Pearl placed a picture of him in their beheading video; streets, squares and academies have been named after al-Dura. He became a poster child for the Intifada."
The Palestinians claimed that Israeli troops had killed the boy, seen on the film crouching behind his father. After a break in the film, in video footage taken by Palestinian cameraman and France 2 stringer Talal Abu Rahma, the boy appeared slumped over and, according to Palestinian claims, dead. The Israeli government initially accepted responsibility. However, after more extensive investigation of the matter -- looking at the placement of the Israeli and Palestinians -- an IDF investigation retracted that admission of responsibility. Evidence subsequently uncovered indicated that the young boy was either killed by the Palestinians during the battle, or never killed at all. The body was never exhumed or even located.
Karsenty had claimed that Enderlin and the Palestinian cameraman had faked the footage to place the blame on Israel, calling the report a "hoax". Enderlin, who was not present in Gaza at the time of the incident, vehemently denied the charge, expressing confidence in the cameraman Abu Rahma's honesty. France2 sued for libel and in the first round won.
Karsenty appealed that verdict, and the appeals court subjected the issue to a much more intensive analysis than the lower courth. The evidence demonstrated discrepancies in the filming and editing of the original news footage. There were gaps in the film that was broadcast throughout the world, missing film that had been edited out and despite the French court's request for all source material, was never presented. The original "rushes" were taped over, attorneys for Enderlin and France 2 claimed, and no longer available for inspection.
"The verdict means we have the right to say France 2 broadcast a fake news report, that [al-Dura's shooting] was a staged hoax and that they duped everybody - without being sued," Karsenty told The Jerusalem Post shortly after the verdict was issued at 1:30 p.m. Paris time.
Convicted of libel in 2006, Karsenty, director of media watchdog group Media-Ratings, was ordered to pay two $1,380 fines - one to be paid to France 2 and one to Enderlin - as well as $4,000 in court costs after he wrote that the incident constituted a "masquerade that dishonors France and its public television." On Wednesday, his appeal against that conviction was upheld.
The IDF, which initially apologized for the death of al-Dura, concluded after an investigation that the boy could not have been hit by Israeli bullets.
A statement forwarded to The Jerusalem Post from Enderlin said that "the appeals court ruled that Karsenty's words were, in fact, libelous, and that Karsenty failed to prove that the news was staged and/or false." The statement added that the case was nevertheless overturned because "the court believed Karsenty had the right to stridently criticize the [France 2] report, since it dealt with an emotional topic, and that Karsenty's investigation into the matter convinced the court he was being sincere."
A source close to Enderlin's side of the case explained that "you can get out of a libel suit either by proving you're right, or by showing you were sincere and had some research. The court found the latter to be the case." The source said Enderlin and France 2 would appeal the verdict, noting that they had won three out of four judgments in the matter. But, replied Karsenty, the only appeal left would be to France's Supreme Court.
"If they continue to insist they are correct," added Karsenty, "we will have victims of terror attacks that directly resulted from the [al-Dura] footage sue France 2."
Karsenty also called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who Karsenty sees as "ultimately responsible" for the publicly owned television station, "to take responsibility for the French state's defense of the worst anti-Semitic lie around. It's time to apologize to the world for broadcasting a fake news report that has inflamed the Muslim world and endangered world peace."
The Jerusalem Posts Haviv Rettig continues: "Karsenty's claims are based on inconsistencies in the footage, including a publicly-available video-taped admission by Abu Rahma that there are untold secrets related to the case, the fact that only seven bullet holes are seen behind al-Dura despite Abu Rahma's repeated statements that the child survived 45 minutes of continuous shooting by Israeli forces directed at the boy, footage clearly showing pretend gun battles and faked ambulance runs at the junction that day, testimony of the IDF soldiers stationed at the junction who said they did not participate in any firefight that day, and the lack of footage of al-Dura's actual shooting."
According to Gross, "today's ruling shows there are serious doubts about France 2's version of events, and that the entire world press was irresponsible in being so quick to take at face value the claims of a local Palestinian cameraman, who has admitted his partisanship."
Today's verdict vindicates Karsenty's David vs. Goliath struggle against the French government network. It corroborates the claims of those who consider the al-Dura case another Palestinian partisan attempt to subvert the pursuit of truth in journalism -- perhaps the moost wildly successful subversion to date -- willfully inventing and exaggerating deaths and casualties, deceptions that exemplify what has been dubbed Pallywood and Hizbollywood. Today a French court indicated that the liars and subverters can't always get away so easily with their deceptions.
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.