The French appellate judge asked France 2 to hand over the unedited footage of the supposed shooting death of Mohammed Al-Dura, one of the icons of the Palestinian propaganda machine.
PJM PARIS….FLASH: The French Appellate court trial of Phillippe Karsenty in the matter of Mohammed Al Dura – the epochal case of the Palestinian boy allegedly shot by Israeli troops in 2000 – took a huge turn today. Photos of the boy have been accused of being the birth of fauxtography.
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.
My birthday is November 15th. What a birthday present that will be, eh? Because if the footage doesn’t back up France 2’s lies, why have they fought so incredibly hard to keep it out of the public eye?
I don’t mean to be a nitpicker here since it is almost certain a great outrage was perpetrated, but is this actually a case of “fauxtography”? I would define fauxtography as actually altering images, as opposed to what I think went on here which was crafty editing.
From Urban Dictionary:
fauxtography: Staged, doctored, or misleadingly cropped or labeled photographs intended as war propaganda, particularly to further the interests of terrorist groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas. Term popularized by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs.
What I don’t understand is why anyone believes that France 2 still even has the unedited tape. If you were the management, wouldn’t you “accidentally” erase or lose it?
I very much hope some form of experienced or expert eye is utilized by the court in France. I’m not sure what the footage might reveal, but it would be a shame to not be able to get some definitive view of what is on that tape.
I strongly think that the tapes will be lost or misplaced.
I strongly think that the tapes will be lost or misplaced.