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L’Affaire Al-Durah
By oceanguy | November 19, 2007
An important scene played itself out last week in a French courtroom and very few people are even aware of it. I urge you, if you aren’t familiar with the Karsenty-Enderlin trial, to get familiar with it. As bloggers, especially political or media bloggers, the case is at the very heart of why so many of us decided to take up blogging, whether as readers, writers or linkers. We see biased and inaccurate media reports and feel like we must do what we can to correct the record.
Richard Landes has a web site expressly for that purpose…. Second Draft. The name comes from a saying that about Journalism is the first draft of history… When journalism gets it’s wrong, a second draft, to correct the error has to come from somewhere.
In 2000 Charles Enderlin, the Bureau Chief in Jerusalem for France2, had the story of a career fall into his lap. The story of a young boy killed in a hail of bullets as his father helplessly tried to shield his son from danger, fit the sought after story line that millions of people… Arabs, Anti-Semites, Anti-Zionists, Leftists, Arabists… were eager to tell and to even more eager to devour. In short Enderlin had hit the mother lode when his Arab stringer dumped a film of Mohammed Al-Durah and his father hiding behind a concrete barricade. The details of the story didn’t need to be checked, since it already fit the narrative… brutal Israelis murdering innocent Arab children. In fact it fit the narrative so perfectly that the Israeli government decided to apologize and move forward, and didn’t contest the facts nor the story those “facts” told. But… not everyone accepted the story so unquestioningly.
Philip Karsenty, Richard Landes are two of the men who kept asking questions, who did a great deal of fact checking, who exposed the dishonesty behind the story and kept the pressure on France 2 and Charles Enderlin. You should know those names. All of us who keep a critical eye on the MSM should know those names and understand their importance in this truly landmark case.
Yaacov Ben Moshe at Breath of the Beast gives us a great starting point for those of you unfamiliar with the people and the story. He introduces us to the facts, the deceptions, and the personalities involved as he makes his case for punishing the arrogant and correcting their errant first draft of history. He also shows us an avenue down which we may direct our anger an our sense of injustice. But, please, if nothing else, please take a bit of time to educate yourself about the real story behind that famous image of the Al-Durah’s. Below the fold are a variety of links that I’m collecting for my archive that you may like to follow as you try to make sense of this ugly story.
Second Draft especially the section on Pallywood.
Solomonia’s post on the court viewing of the rushes.
Melanie Phillips first hand account of the courtroom scene.
Soccer Dad’s Sumary and Links
Lynn B’s Breaking from Paris
July 15, 2002 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs WHO KILLED MUHAMMAD AL-DURA?
BLOOD LIBEL — MODEL 2000
June 2003 Atlantic Article raising questions
Backspin’s Dura Discredited
Neo-Neocon’s Behind the facade of justice: French defamation law and freedom of what?
Breath of the Beast: Outrage in Paris! The Ghost of Rose Mary Woods Stalks the Court Room
Richard Landes: Thoughts Before the Viewing
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Statement of Talal Abu Rahma, Arab Cameraman for France 2
Yid With Lid
Richard Landes: Al Dura Affair: France 2 Cooks the Raw Footage (Comments on Nidra Poller)
Nidra Puller’s Courtroom account
Richard Landes, Mohamed Al Durah’s Father, Jamal Al Durah was arrested this week in Gaza
Al Jezeera’s coverage of the trial
Daled Amos’s Four Interviews with courtroom observers
Topics: Anti-Semitism |