The Jerusalem Post reports that the French Court of Appeals has found in favor of Philippe Karsenty, overturning a lower court decision that Karsenty had libeled France 2 and its Jerusalem correspondent Charles Enderlin when he accused them of knowingly broadcasting a false report on the death of Muhammad al-Dura in the Gaza Strip in 2000. Professor Richard Landes has relentlessly sought to expose the al-Dura affair as a hoax. Today Professor Landes summarized the background of the case here and posted a set of links to commentary on the decision here.
Proresor Landes has dubbed the phenomenon represented by the al-Dura affair Pallywood, definted as the staging of scenes by Palestinian journalists in order to present the Palestinians as hapless victims of Israeli aggression. I took a look at another instance of the Pallywood phenomenon — ironically, one disclosed by Enderlin himself — in “He didn’t give at the office.” I opened with a brief summary of the al-Dura affair:
Charles Enderlin is the France 2 Jerusalem correspondent who broadcast the incendiary account of the death of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura at the hands of Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip in September 2000. Based on film footage provided by a Palestinian cameraman, Enderlin’s report has become infamous among students of Arab propaganda both for its destructive effects and for its probable falsity. The al-Dura affair now bids to join the Dreyfus affair in the French hall of shame.
Today’s court decision is an important chapter in an ongoing saga.
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