Saturday, November 4, 2006
John Rosenthal has an excellent in-depth look at the Muhammed Al-Dura case, starting with a good primer on the events themselves (for those just tuning in), and following with an examination of the Karsenty decision: France: The Al-Dura Defamation Case and the End of Free Speech
...what is most notable about the court's ruling against Karsenty is that such a matter has come before the courts at all. It should be recalled that neither Charles Enderlin, nor, needless to say, the France2 executives in Paris, were present in Netzarim to witness the events at issue. They are thus no more in a position definitively to "affirm" that the scene was authentic than the Mena and its supporters are in a position definitively to affirm that it was staged. In both cases, we are dealing with just more or less plausible hypotheses. In a free society, such controversies are the stuff of public debate: with individuals being at liberty to form -- and express -- their convictions as they see fit. In France in 2006, this is evidently not the case....
I sent a question to Abu Toameh and then briefly talked to him after the event about that question.
His assertion was he can't understand why groups are bringing it back up now years later. Sure the Israeli gov't made an error by admitting it at the time, but whoever killed him its a tragedy.
Me... "But I know journalists who saw the rest of the unreleased France2 footage and he said that it is a blatant hoax and show and that the boy was still moving in the next frame and there was no blood after he was supposedly shot"....
Toameh - "He died I know I went to his funeral"....
By the way the girl from CAMERA, won't type her name in here, was pretty hot... surprisingly.
Mike
First time I've been less than impressed with Abu Toameh. People are bringing it up, of course, because it brings itself up all over the world to be used as an indicator of the evil of the Jews. It's not going away.
I don't think anyone doubts the boy is dead now, but how he got that way (and what was buried at his funeral) is another question altogether.