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September 05, 2007
Release the Mohammed al-Dura tapes!
Would you like to find out what really happened here?
Richard Landes, who has been doggedly pursuing the truth of this incident for years, writes:
Please sign the petition and send it to everyone. Philippe Karsenty’s appeal trial is coming up and this petition is part of an effort to pressure France2 and the Justice system.
To Patrick de Carolis, France2 Television
France2: Release the Secret Muhammad al Durah Tapes!
People around the world who depend on the media for reliability, accuracy, and transparency in reporting, demand that France2 release the unedited video tapes (”rushes”) that its Palestinian cameraman, Talal abu Rahmah, sent them on September 30 and October 1, 2000 from Gaza.
On September 30, 2000, your Middle East correspondent Charles Enderlin, broadcast a story about Muhammad al-Durah, a 12-year old Palestinian boy. Using the footage and the testimony from his cameraman, Talal abu Rahmah, Enderlin reported that Israeli soldiers had targeted and killed the boy. That allegation of deliberate murder spread instantaneously around the world.
Extensive doubts have emerged about almost every claim of this explosive report, and they raise serious questions about both the journalistic integrity of the cameraman and the professional judgment of his employer, your correspondent Charles Enderlin.
As a result, the raw footage France2 received from Talal abu Rahmah represent key evidence in this crucial case.
But instead of releasing the tapes, your institution has responded to criticism of your correspondent’s broadcast by suing French citizens for defamation and keeping the tapes secret for nearly seven years now.
If France2 reports the news responsibly and uses reliable cameramen, you have nothing to hide. Show the tapes and let the public judge.
Whatever political or religious beliefs we hold, whatever we now think about what happened on September 30, 2000, we, the undersigned, believe that all the victims and all of their loved ones – on both sides of the terrible war for which Muhammad al-Durah’s image served as the icon – deserve that this evidence at last be shown.
We, the undersigned, respectfully, but firmly, request that France2 release all the tapes for September 30 and October 1, 2000 for public inspection immediately.
Sincerely . . . .
Please sign the petition
Judith | 09/05/07 at 10:29 PM | Categories: - Media as Theater of War
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Comments
This illustates the od adage, "Tell a lie long enough and people start to believe it." Release the tape(s) !
Paul | September 6, 2007 08:44 AM
An excellent book that goes into this case and many other cases of yellow journalism in the conflict is "The Other War" by Stephanie Gutmann. I highly recommend it.
Rob | September 6, 2007 02:47 PM
Of course, if and when the tapes are released and reveal, most likely, that the hapless little fellow was not killed by Israelis, the fact will receive a tiny fraction of the attention that the smear did.
Alex Bensky | September 7, 2007 12:21 PM
actually Alex, having seen the tapes, i can safely say that if the public sees them it will be a major scandal for france2, not because they tell us about al durah -- nothing particularly revealing that we don't already have -- but what they tell us about the journalistic standards that go into making our news. what they show is the palestinians "street" faking scene after scene of action, injury, ambulance evacuation, and palestinian photographers using western equipment (you can see the reuter's rushes for the day here), send it on to our journalists who then turn this into "news."
so the scandal is at once much broader and more troubling than one isolated case.
r
ralph the bald | September 9, 2007 12:17 AM
