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Karsenty Strikes Blow for Freedom in Al-Dura Case [VIDEO]
Richard Landes of the Second Draft reviews the evidence that the "Al-Dura Affair" was, as ruled by a French appeals court today, a hoax — and exposes other works of "Pallywood."
The French court of appeals, presided over by the redoubtable Madame Laurence Trébucq, has reversed the decision of a lower court — the (in)famous “Chambre 17″ that specializes in verbal crimes had found Philippe Karsenty guilty of defaming France2 after Karsenty, in a 2004 article, claimed (as have many familiar with the dossier), that the scene was staged. The unexpected reversal by the court of appeals represents the first major European breach of the blanket of silence that has greeted any effort of critics to call into question France2’s presentation of the Al Dura footage as actual news.
The Muhammad al Durah affair represents one of the most revealing and distressing cases in the mainstream media’s coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. On September 30, 2000, France2’s Middle East correspondent, Charles Enderlin, ran footage of what looked like a boy and his father, together hiding behind a barrel, “the target of fire coming from the Israeli position.” According to this report, the boy was killed and the father badly wounded. The footage went around the world instantly, provoking outrage and violence against both Israel and Jewish communities in the Arab world and in Europe.
France2 compounded these violations of journalistic ethics by attempting to block any criticism. Ridiculing the proponents of the “staged hypothesis” as conspiracy theorists on the order of 9-11 truthers or holocaust deniers, France2 sued independent French citizens who had the nerve to criticize them for their journalistic incompetence.
In doing so, the media giant has used a law from 1881, created to protect people from defamation by the media, to protect the media from any oversight. As Karsenty noted in a recent speech, “The Al Dura lie is an assault on our ability to think, to criticize, to evaluate, and, finally, to reject information — especially the right to reject information on which we base our most cherished assumptions.”
France2’s legal maneuver backfired when they were called to show the court the raw footage of their Palestinian cameraman, Talal abu Rahmah, whose camera work and testimony lie at the heart of the accusation against the Israeli army. They found themselves forced to cut the most embarrassing scenes before showing the footage to the court, and to explain to the court why the remaining footage had so many suspicious scenes.
Philippe Karsenty commented:
It is ironic that I, a private individual, had to lecture one of France’s most influential TV stations in order to demonstrate that a child cannot move, lift his head, arm and leg, stare at the camera and still be considered ‘dead’ a good 10 seconds after the newscaster tells us… ‘the child is dead.’ One need only look at France 2’s own footage to realize that the ‘death’ scene was faked.
While we will not have the court’s written decision until tomorrow, the fact that it comes after a series of contentious hearings before the appeals court suggests the following:
- In order to reverse the decision of the lower court, the appeals court needed to see significant evidence that, although Karsenty’s article definitely struck at the “honor and consideration” of Enderlin and France2, he had justification (if not proof) for his criticism.
- The viewing of the rushes (which, presumably, the judges got to view again in the privacy of their chambers) played a significant role in the process of convincing the judges to overturn the earlier decision.
- French justice’s wheels may turn slowly, but they do turn. One can still count on an independent judiciary in some corners of the French court system.
- This is not only a victory for the French justice system, but also for the cause of freedom of speech in France and Europe, as Karsenty commented:
Our victory today was a victory for freedom – the freedom to think and to speak one’s mind; the freedom to question what one is told; and the freedom to disbelieve the solemn pronouncements of others when the individual concludes that his reasoning is correct and that the state and the state-run media – and all of the institutions they represent – are wrong.
Sources close to France2 have suggested they may take this appeal one level higher to the “cour de cassation,” the highest court of appeal in France. Karsenty responded by noting that, at that level, the issues are purely technical, not substantive. In a sense, France2 and Enderlin are caught between the rock of facing their disastrous errors in judgment, increasingly obvious to everyone, and the hard place of making even more errors of judgment in the pursuit of the face-saving fiction that they have done/can do no wrong.
Now that the court has thrown out France2’s effort to intimidate Karsenty, perhaps an increasing number of intellectuals and media critics — and maybe even self-critical members within the media — will begin to look to cleaning their Augean Stables.
As a contribution to that janitorial task, I think it would be worthwhile for current MSM journalists to pay attention to a phenomenon I called Pallywood, after seeing Talal’s rushes for the first time in 2003. This phenomenon includes, but is not limited to, Palestinian protestors and ambulance drivers staging scenes that Palestinian cameramen film. They pass this staged footage on to unsuspecting Western journalists who, in turn, present it to the public as actual news. I have posted a 14 minute video (above) examining France2’s use of Talal’s rushes in the court case, highlighting their near-constitutional incapacity to see how Talal has manipulated them. For a view of the materials this video analysis is based on, you can see (the bowdlerized version of) Talal’s rushes and the France2 video presented to the court here.
In the asymmetrical warfare of global Jihad against the West, the “weak” side treats the media of the “strong” side as a theater of war, and no single case shows the Western journalism’s vulnerability to this kind of manipulation better than the Al Durah affair. Nothing illustrates the dysfunctions of our media more than their pervasive refusal to reconsider this case, despite the amount of damage it has produced. Nothing endangers Western democracies more than mis-information, and news broadcasts, products of a free and honest media, are the eyes and ears of the civil polity. No creature, no matter how powerful, can survive if its senses betray it, especially in a war zone.
Today’s decision represents a major victory not only for Philippe Karsenty but for those who have tenaciously resisted this media catastrophe. It also represents a victory for the French, the Europeans, and all Westerners in the ongoing battle with forces that despise both a free and equitable media and society.
UPDATE: You can read an English-language translation of the judge’s ruling here.
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17 Comments
1. Media Mythbusters Blog » Blog Archive » Media Bias Roundup - 05/21/08:[...] Pajamas Media – Karsenty Strikes Blow for Freedom in Al-Dura Case [VIDEO] [...]
May 21, 2008 - 4:29 pm 2. Benson:A richly-deserved victory — finally. May it receive the publicity it deserves, and may Richard Landes be lionized for carrying on his admirable work.
In my view, the most important aspect of this case is not the fact that “Palestinian” sources are willing to lie, cheat, and fabricate fake news. It is not even that Western media (that’s a plural noun, BTW) are willing to accept and broadcast the propaganda. I am most impressed by the reaction of France 2, Enderlin and the other media to exposure and criticism.
It seems obvious to me that news and commentary in the West are to a large extent in the hands of an establishment that considers itself above reproach, above the petty values of the population, and in some sense a kind of governing (or at least truth-mediating/defining) body. The media gatgekeepers too often behave as a kind of theocratic elite. Yes, that’s a broad generalization with exceptions, but it does describe an aspect of reality. It applies not just to France 2, but to the censorious print and electronic media across the Western world.
The media too often filter the news, spike stories, hammer on slogans and try to influence the electoral process, and there is a pattern to their misbehavior. Many in the news business are corrosive elements within Western Civilization, even cultural Quislings. When challenged and held to account, Western journalists too often react with contempt for the truth and a punitive anger at their critics. To this day, Dan Rather and Mary Mapes claim the fake documents that ended their careers have never been definitively discredited (the debunking “did not hold up,” Rather said recently), and they are bitter about having been exposed. How very like the behavior of a profoundly offended Enderlin. The difference: unlike France, the UK and Canada, the USA does not offer such rascals the jurisprudential means to savage, intimidate and silence the whistle-blowers.
True freedom of speech and press are alien concepts almost everywhere; I can’t think of another judicial/political system that holds them in the same regard as does the USA. (Australia and New Zealand, perhaps? I don’t know.)
Enderlin/Mapes/Rather types are genuinely dangerous. Any legal code that protects them from exposure of the truth badly needs reform. How terrible that Enderlin was able to put his critic in danger…in the courts of the nation that gave the world the Enlightenment.
May 21, 2008 - 6:21 pm 3. Tom W.:The al Dura fraud–as cheesy as it was–is actually one of the more sophisticated efforts put forth by these murderous denizens of the 8th century.
Go to YouTube and search videos of Israelis shooting civilians. Every single one is absolutely retarded. All are not only lies, but shoddy, pitifully childish fantasies that only primitive, unsophisticated, emotionally and intellectually truncated idiots could believe.
Shockingly, the “Arab street” and the smelly, anti-Semitic, morally bankrupt Left can be made to accept something by the simple expedient of telling it to them. No proof is ever required.
I can see why uneducated and backward people raised on a diet of hate and virulent self-pity over their endless failures could fall for this nonsense, but what’s the excuse of the world’s media elite?
May 21, 2008 - 11:58 pm 4. CDLIC:Albert Einstein said “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” Karsenty has encountered such and beat the odds. Yes, a true win for freedom of speech. A true vote of confidence for the French Justice system. A loud bravo! for the courage and perseverance of Karsenty and his supporters.
Thomas Paine wrote “A lie can travel half way around the world while truth is still lacing its boots.” The al-Dura lie mirrored Paine’s quote on a grand scale. Hopefully, now with boots laced, Karsenty’s surprise victory will pick up pace and be covered by the World Press. But unfortunately, most likely much of the World will continue to believe the al-Dura story to be true and the Israelis to be monsters.
The question is is there a solution to preventing such a fraud as perpetrated by France2 in the first place? Is there a mechanism by which the fraud perpetrators must pay for the destruction, murders and increasing World instability caused by their journalistic lies? Until a mechanism is created to put those who cause such havoc at financial and incarceration risk, willful acts of deception and lies of a France2 will continue.
I end with the following question: what is the solution to preventing future a France2 from committing such fraud and World destruction?
May 22, 2008 - 2:44 am 5. Hot Air » Blog Archive » French court rejects Al-Dura hoax:[...] of a supposed murder of a Palestinian child by Israeli soldiers staged for propaganda purposes. As PJM’s Richard Landes notes, the entire unedited footage of France2 contained a long series of laughably staged [...]
May 22, 2008 - 5:24 am 6. Pajamas Media: Al-Dura Case Explained Video:[...] Added 22 May 08 from pajamasmedia.com Flag as inappropriate or broken [...]
May 22, 2008 - 6:33 am 7. Doug Santo:I congratulate Mr. Karsenty for not giving up in the face of overwhelming odds. I also congratulate Mr. Landes for his work in exposing this affair and other media fabrications.
I would also like to associate myself with the comments of “Benson” (May 21, 2008 – 6:21 pm). I could not say it better.
I believe the Al-Dura affair brings to light an unfortunate problem in western media. Many journalists have a preconceived notion of right and wrong and are willing to twist the truth to demonstrate their case. Reporting facts is of secondary importance, if a greater good (in the Journalist’s mind) can be achieved.
Professionalism in western media is at an all time low.
Doug Santo
May 22, 2008 - 7:15 am 8. Mike:Pasadena, CA
Don’t forget Jenin. This was another major media event proved false. I recall a media outlet showing video of a “dead” civilian on a stretcher from an overhead helicopeter. They followed the stretcher until it got around a building. The “dead” civilian jumped off the stretcher and walked away. I recall seeing this some weeks or months after the Jenin “massacre” was reported over and over. However, I only once saw the film. To state the obvious, you have to wonder how many other reported tragedy/accidents have occurred to Palestinian civilians which were no such thing.
May 22, 2008 - 8:08 am 9. john:On the front page of the Wash. Post was a photo of a young girl, approx 10 yrs. old with her leg in a cast, the mother was sitting in a chair with both hands clutching at her hair and she looked to be screaming. The father was on both knees on the floor with both hands clutching at his hair as he let out a painful looking scream. All of them looking at the camera for the perfect shot of a family in pain after a U.S. bombing mission. That photo looked so staged I stopped reading the Post. Most in the mainstream media think we’re morons they can fool without fear of reprisal. These people need to be stopped before we’re forced to say goodbye to our freedoms. They need to be hurt where they will feel it most. In their bank accounts.
May 22, 2008 - 9:19 am 10. Blaise MacLean:Does anyone think this story will make it onto the BBC news?
May 22, 2008 - 11:10 am 11. john:I just checked the BBC and the story is either hidden or not there. I’m not surprised.
May 22, 2008 - 11:38 am 12. wfjag:Does anyone think it will make it into any major US news reports? So far, nothing on CNN, MSNBC or Fox. Maybe, whatever the ideological outlook of the news company, a story that some reporters staged a story and the fraud was knowingly broadcast strikes too close to home?
May 22, 2008 - 1:52 pm 13. john:Remember the staged exploding ford pinto? some of you may have to look that up.
May 22, 2008 - 2:02 pm 14. einstein:Still very little from MSM outlets. Once the lawsuits start filing in, it will be impossible to keep this groundbreaking story bottled up.
May 23, 2008 - 5:23 am 15. abu yussif:it’s on the BBC, but buried:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7415858.stm
May 24, 2008 - 2:29 am 16. G.F. Budapest, Hungary:Look, I think there is a trick here. While it is obvious what France 2 resorted to in its conduct of news reporting, let us not forget who is the potentially even more dangerous and manipulative in twisting the truth here. Our hidden beloved “pal” (i.e.: British Broadcasting Corporation).
May 25, 2008 - 8:02 am 17. G.F. Budapest, Hungary:Because of their international reach, tens of millions of audience and “zillions” of Ł resorces they are as much, if not more, lethal as this French channel.
The BBC’c catalogue of sins is so long that there are more than one web-site (biasedbbc, bbc-watch, etc.) dedicated solely to uncover their lies, manipulative tendencies and spin.
I firmly believe that they are masqurading as professional journalists whom have had behind-the-scenes agendas all along in the past 20-30 something years re: Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Indeed, it is not by chance that they resorted to litigation in a desperate attempt to obstruct the eventual opening the so-called Balen files – Malcolm Balen who in a thorough examination that amounted to thousands of pages (neraly 20.000 if I know well) documented the biases of the broadcaster.
They (the BBC) are the big fish here – let’s not forget that…
G.F.
Dear Richard Landes,
As a benevolent and symphatetic onlooker surfing on this website I would like to add a sort of advice, even if this will not be put on the Talkback board. As a highly professional expert – and a native English speaker I suppose – you simply CANNOT make a grammatical error in English, like in the last sentence of the one before the last paragraph: “No creature, no matter how powerful, can survive if it’s senses betray it, especially in a war zone.” Correctly not “it’s” senses, but “its senses” without the apostrophe. I am NOT a native English speaker, English is not my mother tongue (it is (”it’s”!!!) Hungarian), but this is a very ugly error from a writer-journalist-academic, please choose I don’t know which exactly. I know this type of error especially wel since our teacher in high school punished for making such an error more than 10 years ago…
Yours faithfully,
Gabor Fränkl (29)
P.S.: If you decide not to publish this post, then at least please call Mr. Landes’s attention to my observation and remark, please – for his sake.
May 25, 2008 - 3:23 pm