International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 21 May 2008

A French appeals court on Wednesday ruled that media watchdog Philippe Karsenty did not libel France 2 TV and its Jerusalem correspondent Charles Enderlin when he accused them of ‘staging’ the dramatic video footage of 12-year old Mohammed al-Dura apparently dying in his father’s arms at a flashpoint junction in Gaza in September 2000.

Enderlin’s edited 55-second report of the incident blamed Al-Dura’s death on IDF soldiers in a nearby bunker at the Netzarim junction, and its broadcast worldwide caused the second Palestinian intifada to spiral out of control.

But Karensenty charged that the footage was a "hoax" and Israeli soldiers could not have been responsible for al-Dura’s death. Karsenty based his claims on numerous inconsistencies in the footage taken by an Arab camerman, as well as the fact that only a small portion of the full 27-minute tape was released. France 2 and Enderlin then sued him for libel and won a verdict at trial in 2006.

France 2 played down today’s reversal of that ruling and promised to appeal to the nation’s Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the IDF, which initially apologized for the death of al-Dura, has since "ruled out" the possibility he died from Israeli fire and has requested from France 2 the entire unedited 27-minute film.

Copyright © 2007 International Christian Embassy Jerusalem