Wolf Howling: libel

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Paris Court Overturns The Libel Conviction In The "Al-Dura Affair"

France 2's report purporting to show the IDF killing of a young Palestinian boy set off the second intifada with loss of life in the thousands. Phillipe Karsenty charged that France 2 and reporter Charles Enderlin had staged the story and that Israeli soldiers had not killed the boy. Enderlin and France 2 brought a case for libel. You can find the background of the case and coverage of the lower court case resulting in a finding of libel in this series of PJM reports - Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. A Paris Court that heard the appeal and reviewed the evidence underlying Karsenty's defense, including all of the footage of supplied by France 2, has now overturned the finding of libel. This is a decision that will likely have significant ramifications.

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This from Israeli blogger Israel Matzav:

Israel Radio's Paris correspondent Gil Michaeli has just reported that the French Court of Appeals has overturned the libel judgment against Phillipe Karsenty and has determined that Karsenty did not libel France 2 correspondent Charles Enderlin when he reported that the 'death' of 12-year old Mohamed Al-Dura at Netzarim in the Gaza Strip in September 2000 may have been staged, and that it was unlikely that the death was caused by IDF soldiers.

More to follow as soon as I have it.

Yes, I know that the photo above is offensive. I'm trying to remind you all of how the al-Dura hoax is being used around the world.

UPDATE 3:40 PM

Welcome Instapundit readers.

UPDATE 5:37 PM

Richard Landes, who has been one of the driving forces behind the effort to expose the al-Dura hoax from the beginning, reminds us all that there is still a written opinion to be issued, and that the court's evidentiary standard ought to make that opinion a doozer. He also asks the most important question here:
Now we get to see how the French (and Western) MSM handle this. It’s a stunning victory for Karsenty and loss for Enderlin and France2 who initiated this case when they didn’t have to. . . .

Read the entire post.

Much more on this decision at Soccer Dad.

Update: Philippe Karsenty writes of his vindication at PJM:

Now it is time for France 2 to acknowledge that it created and is continuing to perpetuate the worst anti-Semitic libel of our era. It’s the responsibility of the French government and, ultimately, the responsibility of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy — who is, for all practical purposes, the chief executive of French public television — to finally reveal the truth.

Read the entire post.

Interesting News From Around the Web

In the little bit of good news to come out of Pakistan of late, the Pakistan military is mounting a major offensive against the radical Muslims. The penultimate Pakistani nightmare is losing control of their nuclear arsenal to the radicals. The US has had ongoing efforts to insure security of those weapons, though the effectiveness of the program is, not suprisingly, coming under scrutiny now.

The problem with overreaching is the little you gain is greatly outweighed by the damage you may do. The Clinton campaign is experiencing more than a little of that right now, after a debate and commentary so rigged in her favor even Kos and CNN are criticizing it. At least it did not rise to the level Scott Ott foresaw, with CNN allowing Clinton additional time to "deliver rebuttals to any statements she makes with which she disagrees." But it apparently wasn't that far off. Instapundit has the roll up of commentary on this here and here. If the Clinton campaign is having to do this at the Democratic debates even while they have a double digit lead nationwide, what tricks are we going to see come the real Presidential race?

In another sure sign of the onset of global warming, South America is experincing its coldest winter in 90 years.

Right Truth is blogging on an extremely important case of a Saudi Sheik using the libel laws of foreign countries to silence authors in America writing about terrorism. Do watch the video: