September 4, 2007

New Dreyfuss Affair?

Joanna Chandler's Frontpage piece on the Al-Durah case makes the comparison, as others have, of this case to the Dreyfuss Affair, and laments the lack of a modern day Emile Zola to bring the facts to light, and refute the lie that has spawned such hatred and violence toward Israel and Jews since the incident in 2000; the lie that Israeli soldiers killed Mohammed Al-Durah.

The evidence that the death of young Al-Durah was staged by Palestinian propagandists is compelling and persuasive, but the case has never received the attention it should because the established narrative - that of Israeli heartlessness and cruelty and of Palestinian helplessness and victimhood- fits so nicely the elite (especially European) media worldview. That, and the fact that admitting to the monumental deception that had been overseen by France 2 TV - which is to say the TV network of the French government - was something that could not be considered. All the stops were pulled out to squash any dissent from the France 2 company line, including suing the journalists who dared report on the inconsistencies, omissions, and the absence of evidence in the France 2 story.

The story is in the news again because the appeal of the defamation conviction of journalist Philippe Karsenty is coming up. I'll not try to excerpt the article, but in addition to recommending you read it all, I'll use the occasion to link to other Al-Durah resources I have accumulated, but never posted all in one place.

Any list of resources on the Al Durah affair should begin with Nidra Poller's Commentary article from 2005. It's an excellent summary of the facts and issues in the case.

The web site Second Draft is another necessary visit for anyone interested in the Al-Durah matter.

James Fallows article in The Atlantic

The Augean Stables - Al-Durah Chronology

The Augean Stables - Richard Landes films

Camera.org Backgrounder on Al-Durah

Nidra Poller's PJM coverage of the defamation trials of Philippe Karsenty and two other journalists who questioned the original report by Charles Enderlin and France 2 TV network.

UPDATE 9/18: Via CQ, comes this J-Post article by Caroline Glick, reporting that the IDF has broken their seven-year silence on the al Durah matter, asking TV network France 2 to release the complete unedited 27 minute tape of the events of October 1, 2000.

UPDATE 9/20: A "huge turn" in the al Durah case according to Nidra Poller, writing at PJM.

Appellate Court Presiding judge Laurence Trébucq has demanded that France 2 hand over the 27-minutes of raw footage shot on the afternoon of September 30, 2000 by Talal Abu Rahmeh. France 2 lawyer Maïtre Bénédicte Amblard tried to convince the judge that the request was not appropriate, relevant, necessary or even advisable. But the judge wants to see the outtakes with her own eyes.

This is the first time the French court has made such a demand that would be normal in the US system. The court will now be able to determine if the Al Dura shooting and tape was a fake, as many have alleged.

Maître Amblard was not able to reach her clients to confirm availability of the footage. Today’s hearing was adjourned. The next hearing is scheduled on November 14th… to view the raw footage.

Details will follow tomorrow.

Posted by dan at September 4, 2007 9:09 PM