If there's nothing wrong with that, then I guess there's nothing wrong with being overtly anti-Arab.

October 1, 2007

Israeli Government Officially Confirms Al-Dura Footage was Staged
Blood Libel Against IDF

Shurat HaDin to Petition High Court to Strip France2 Press
Credentials

In response to a warning letter sent by Shurat HaDin to the
Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) more than 9 months ago, GPO
Director Danny Seaman has written a formal acknowledgment that
FRANCE 2 Television staged the infamous news footage depicting a
Palestinian child being shot to death by the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) in September 2000. This is the first time in the
seven years since the footage broadcast that the Prime Minister's
Office has confirmed that a journalistic fraud had been
perpetrated against the IDF by government owned FRANCE 2
television.

Shurat HaDin had written Seaman contending that mounting evidence
proved that cameramen and news editors from FRANCE 2 had
deliberately staged and then misleadingly edited the footage
aired by the French government television on in September 2000.
The emotional footage, repeatedly broadcast around the world on
CNN and other cable stations, ignited anti-Israeli violence in
the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Arab communities and
spurred international condemnation of the IDF. The Palestinian
youth Muhammad al-Dura, allegedly seen being killed in the video
footage, became the poster child in the Arab world for the
current intifada violence and fueled hundreds of terror attacks
against Israeli citizens and Jewish communities worldwide.
Thousands of Jews and Arabs have been killed in the ensuing
violence following the broadcast.

The Shurat HaDin letter demanded that, in light of the fraudulent
broadcast and the grievous harm that it unleashed against Israel
as well as the massive numbers of victims attributable to the
fake footage, Seaman must strip FRANCE 2 of its press
credentials.

Although Seaman stopped short of agreeing to remove FRANCE 2's
accreditations his response letter to Shurat HaDin confirms that
the Prime Minister's Office
firmly believes that the footage was deliberately staged to
misrepresent that the IDF killed al-Dura when in fact a forensic
investigation has concluded that Israel could not possibly have
been responsible. As Seaman writes:

"Without any deep and serious investigation, the global media
convicted the State of Israel in the murder of a little boy, and
his image remained tattooed and engraved in the collective Arab
memory as a symbol for the cruelty of the Zionist nation. These
allegations started a long road that leaded to exposing the truth
and basing the fact that Talal Abu Rahma, the network's
Palestinian cameraman, engaged in the systematic staging of
action scenes . . . This libel incited the Arab world and caused
many victims in and outside of Israel."

Seaman's letter then states that despite this confirmed
journalistic libel the GPO will not seek to have FRANCE 2's
credentials revoked.

It is the intention now of Shurat HaDin to file a petition in the
High Court of Justice against the GPO and FRANCE 2 compelling the
government to remove FRANCE 2 credentials and prohibit them from
manufacturing further anti-Israel propaganda pieces.

According to Shurat HaDin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: "This
modern-day blood libel directly resulted in hundreds of Jewish
and Arab deaths and ignited a still-flaming torch of
international hatred, only for the sake of raising FRANCE 2's
ratings. This was perhaps the greatest journalistic hoax
perpetrated in the last hundred years. We demand that those who
are responsible for this crime will bare the consequences of
their actions. The State of Israel cannot simply allow FRANCE 2
to remain in this country."

Moreover, activist Philippe Karsenty has led a long battle inside
of France against FRANCE 2 seeking to determine whether the
Al-Dura footage had been staged. Last week in an historic victory
for Philippe Karsenty, a French Court hearing an appeal of his
case centering on the Al-Dura allegations ordered that all of the
raw video footage shot by the camera crew be released to
determine if a deliberate news hoax had been perpetrated.

Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center is a long overdue Jewish legal
rights institute based in Israel. Staffed by some of the
countrys leading activist attorneys, we are dedicated to
providing legal representation and resources for the numerous
courtroom struggles, which are being waged in the Israeli,
American and European courts on behalf of the Jewish State. We
serve as a central clearinghouse and litigation base for the
multifarious legal battles that have been thrust upon Israels
citizens during these dark days.