| May 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
You may remember the famous pictures from September, 2000, allegedly showing a small boy, supposedly shot by Israeli soldiers:
The video from the TV channel France 2 has become famous around the world as a symbol for the current Palestinian intifada (uprising) and shows a boy trying to take shelter behind a man during a gun battle in September 2000 between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip.
Evidence is now being presented that they were faked:
Independent media analysts in France and Israel have provided what they call conclusive evidence that the video of the incident was staged and at least one member of the French Assembly has called for an official investigation of the episode, but France 2 has so far refused to undertake a comprehensive inquiry.
France 2 Television did not respond to numerous requests for interviews by Cybercast News Service in Paris, choosing instead to provide copies of articles reporting it was filing a libel suit against un-named individuals for defamation.
But Stephane Juffa, editor in chief of the Metula News Agency based in Israel, said he and two other colleagues carried out a thorough investigation, which included scores of interviews and scene-by-scene analysis of the video and other material filmed in 2000.
“The child we see during the shooting is not the same child that we see in the morgue in other footage, who has bullet wounds and is identified as Mohammed al-Durra by hospital staff,” said Juffa.
Juffa said he had no information about how the child in the morgue was killed, but doctors there said the boy arrived hours before the actual Netzarim gun battle described in the video took place.
According to France 2 Television reporter Charles Enderlin, the boy, 12-year old Mohammed al-Durra, was killed in the end by Israeli bullets and the father was severely wounded.
Enderlin was not present during the incident, but his Palestinian cameraman, Talal Abu Rahma, was the only cameraman to record the images of what Enderlin described as the killing of the child by Israeli bullets.
...Philippe Karsenty, who runs a French media watchdog agency called Media-Ratings, has also examined the video and come to the conclusion that the report was fabricated.
“The report is false. I’ve seen the elements of France 2’s report and it is clear that it is a fake,” said Karsenty. “It is clear that it was staged.”
Among the elements Karsenty has found that he says reveal the forgery are a director ordering retakes of scenes, ambulances appearing within two seconds in an unedited shot after a Palestinian is said to be wounded, the child hoisting himself on his elbows after he is said to be dead and no blood or bullet wounds on any of the victims.
...In 2000, when France 2 Television made international headlines with its exclusive video, Enderlin claimed to have 27 minutes of raw footage, most of which was withheld because France 2 insisted it wanted to spare viewers the images of the dying child’s agony.
Juffa claimed France 2 has recently unofficially admitted to three journalists meeting with the station’s news director and other television officials that the cameraman, the sole eyewitness to the shooting despite the presence of many other cameramen, had changed his story. The cameraman, according to Juffa, retracted his sworn testimony about the child being killed by Israeli soldiers and about the raw footage showing the child in agony before death.
Is there a cover-up on the part of French media?
Juffa said he was surprised to find that instead of investigating the video, France 2 responded by attacking him. According to Juffa, France 2 has responded to his investigation by accusing him of being a negationist, a revisionist, an extremist and a member of Israel’s ultra right wing.
“I am not part of the extreme right wing, but that accusation does not answer or excuse the forgery,” said Juffa.
Both Juffa and Karsenty said French media have united in refusing to publicize the evidence by pressuring journalists who fear for their careers in a country where most television and radio journalism jobs are in the state media.
The Media-Ratings site (in French) is here.
#1
#2it matters little if its fake or not..
if its fake its -1 to all the deaths...
END ISRAELI OCCUPATION NOW!
I just read an interesting essay in The Nation (I'll find a link if anyone's interested) about the topic of inspiration and message versus truth.
The crux of the author's point was that we as a society are becoming more used to skirting around the truth or falsity of an issue if it means we can exploit the message.
This story about the Intifada seems a good example to me. Supposed journalists will ignore the fact of whether the images are true or not because those images support the story they want to tell.
I'm saddened to think that the French network, and CBS, feel that truth as a priority is so far down the list, trailing idealogy, sexiness, and ratings.