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In February, Philippe Karsenty (picture), who heads ‘Media-Ratings’, an online media commentary site, presented judges with new evidence including a ballistics report and footage from other sources, which he said proved the boy’s death had been staged by the French tv correspondent.
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NEW YORK/PARIS (EJP)---A Jewish group fighting anti-Semitism has welcomed a decision by a French appeals court overturning a libel verdict against a media critic who questioned the veracity of a television report about the killing of a Palestinian boy in September 2000.
The appeals court overturned an earlier court decision that French media critic Philippe Karsenty libeled France 2 public television channel and its Jerusalem correspondent, Charles Enderlin, by accusing the station of selectively editing images of Mohammed al-Durra, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy whose death during a gunfight in the Gaza Strip provoked widespread Palestinian and Arab anger against Israel.
The France 2 images shocked the world and made al-Dura a martyr in the Arab world.
Enderlin’s report accused Israeli troops of killing the boy as he and his father took cover.
In February, Karsenty, who heads ‘Media-Ratings’, an online media commentary site, presented judges with new evidence including a ballistics report and footage from other sources, which he said proved the boy’s death had been staged by the French tv correspondent.
An Israel Defense Forces investigation concluded that the IDF was not responsible for his death.
The court said in its ruling the new footage "did not allow to rule out the opinion of (France 2) professionals," but it also rejected claims by state prosecutor Antoine Bartoli that the new evidence was "neither complete nor serious."
Francis Szpiner, France 2's lawyer, expressed his disappointed with the decision but pointed to nuances in the ruling and said his clients would take the case to France's highest appeals court.
"One cannot make the ruling say what it did not -- because the court states that Karsenty did not provide proof of his allegations," he said.
Jewish group welcomes ruling
"The decision by the French Court of Appeals paves the way for public recognition of the way the international news media misrepresented and sensationalized events on the ground in September 2000," Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said.
He added: "This case should serve as a wake-up call to all correspondents assigned to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that false or sensationalized reporting is unethical and immoral. The news media has a responsibility to never allow itself to become an advocate, or to propagandize for either side of a conflict."
Philippe Karsenty called the ruling a "victory for civil society" and said he would continue to fight French media outlets which he said misreported the story.
"It is a great day for the freedom of expression in France, the freedom of media and the truth in the media," he said.
France 2 has stood behind the correspondent and cameraman who made the report in 2000.