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,
Muhammad al Durah: Free the Rushes!
A new petition has been launched demanding that France 2 release its unaired footage of the Muhammad al Durah incident: France2: Free the Secret Muhammad al Durah Tapes. Please take time to sign it and pass it on. Our friend…
I agree with all the words of the petititon.
Que France 2 TV d’état ne contribue pas à propager un mensonge qui ne fera qu’attiser la haine anti-israélienne et la haine anti-juive avec une menance toujours possible de notre paix civile dans le contexte politique actuel…
Well, I signed. The number of signatories seems to be increasing at a steady pace, to the point where it’s already over 500 now, after only a couple of days.
Let’s see if it does any good. Probably not, I’m afraid to say. The French government doesn’t even listen much to its own citizens, much less those of other countries. And where is the media coverage of this issue?
This petition is a good idea, but it may end up being just a pinprick, something the French government and France2 will be able to ignore. Where is the intercession of governments, of other major media companies and professional associations, of European intellectuals? As I said, the petition is a nice idea, but…
And, I hate to say this, but if many of the names on the petition turn out to be identifiably Jewish, that will make it have even less impact. France2 will easily laugh it off. They may even strike a heroic pose as resisting neo-con pressure.
Good luck with the petition, but I’m not holding my breath.
PC and hypocritical paternalism on steroids
Last night’s Corny Cornbread square on the side becomes this morning’s main event, It’s Better than Ham and Cheese on English.(x 1.25) Sliced in half horizontally, toasted, slathered with mayo lite and piled with slices of Danish ham and Havarti
joanne,
careful now — you sound like me.
but that’s because you are, of course, right. you observed what is obvious: it’s 1938 again.
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=581D1EEC-E3DA-4CB2-BFDD-B0138B3A539B
Actually it never went away, just hid for a while. These thing never goes away.
Well, at least the numbers are going up, it seems by the hundreds each day. That’s encouraging.
Given the nature of the problem, hundreds is nothing. And it sounds more like an expressive rather than instrumental attitude: iow, the real objective cannot be achieved so we’re content that some people expressed themselves.
That’s why we’re losing.
Its almost 1500 now…
Cross-posted at “I Call BS!”
http://www.ICallBS.net
I hope it will happen but I have a gut feeling it will never happen
Not releasing the tapes is proof there is something to hide. If there is something to hide, France2 is not an honest dealer and should be boycotted.
The truth will out eventually. Which side are you on?
[…] r — Richard Landes @ 9:13 am — Print This Post For the English Petition see previous post. S’il vous plaît, signez la […]
all big things start small.
not all things that start small become big.
this is far from over.
I hope you’re right, RL. I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to demean your efforts on this petition, it’s just that I don’t think the French authorities (I believe France2 is government-run) are a very responsive lot. I’m glad to see the numbers rising over 2,000 in just a couple of days. When I signed, there were only 40 signatures. As I said, I hope you’re right, and I wish you luck on this.
Even if the tapes are released — which I doubt — the myth is already there and those who so readily believe it to be true because it fits their prejudices won’t change their minds. the reality-based community is disappearing.
Joanne asks:
And where is the media coverage of this issue?
This petition is a good idea, but it may end up being just a pinprick, something the French government and France2 will be able to ignore. Where is the intercession of governments, of other major media companies and professional associations, of European intellectuals?
Indeed, these are good and pertinent questions, Joanne. Let’s go farther and ask, Where is the ACLU? Where is Amnesty International? Where is Human Rights Watch? They are all so eager and ready to intervene in “human rights” and “civil rights” issues all over the world. They’re all so very worried about Burma and China and even Israel. But this issue of Philippe Karsenty’s freedom of expression does not seem to move them.
I remember when the ACLU used to defend the civil right of Nazis in the United States to preach Nazism, to preach mass murder of Jews, to shout “gas the Jews,” etc. The ACLU’s argument was that if we don’t defend the rights of “unpopular” voices like the Nazis [maybe not as “unpopular” as the ACLU would have us believe], then the civil rights of everyone were in danger. That was typical hypocritical garbage, the kind that we have come to expect from the ACLU. When it comes to violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US constitution, of the Bill of Rights, of the right not to be subject to “cruel and unusual punishments” in the case of Jonathan Pollard, for instance, then the ACLU and Amnesty are like the three Chinese monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. [if anyone is unaware, Pollard’s sentence for spying was very harsh compared to the sentences handed down in other spying cases in that same period of time [circa 1985]. We should use both the Karsenty case and the Pollard case to show how these “human rights” & “civil rights” defenders pick and choose whose civil rights are worth defending. By the way, I don’t claim that this sort of injustice perpetrated by “civil rights/human rights” agencies is only to the detriment of Jews.
Since I have started ranting, I’d like to go slightly off topic. I’d like to know why some of the films of Orson Welles, probably the most brilliant American film director, are so ignored, and have been ignored for so long, despite Welles’ fame. How about The Stranger [circa 1947] for example??
Eliyahu,
I agree with you on Welles, and I’m glad that you saw my point. As for the ACLU, I think they deal only with domestic cases, not with anything totally happening in another country. That’s simply not in their purview. They deal with rights under American law. Amnesty? Well…I don’t know, maybe because Karsenty isn’t incarcerated.
we need to wake up to todays PR.
Its mostly all about “getting the correct spin on the b/s”. Pallywood did this well, and it worked.
When the Lebanon War came, we didn’t and Hitzbollah won the PR war hands down.
We need to make sure in an age where there are no gatekeepers or speed bumps on the information super-highway that it is Israel and only us that gets the correct spin on the b/s.
In the 21st Century “Spin in King!”
The spin does not work ONLY because the spinners are good at it. It is effective also because the audience is ignorant and unable to to reason independently and critically and, therefore, utterly gullible; more and more of it is also indoctrinated with b/s in what used to be universities that are now subtituting leftist and islamist activism for academia, so it swallows the spin lock stock and barrel.
fp
http://fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com/
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2007/09/ny-times-picks-up-the-el-haj-controversy/
see what I mean?
Joanne,
The aim of a petition, any petition, is not only to pressure the authorities at issue. It has an equally important aim, — or perhaps even more important — of showing each and every suppoter that he/she is not as isolated as they may otherwise feel. This is exceedingly imprtant for morale, without which all other actions stand little chance of success.
anat,
you are validating my claim that this is essentially expressive, not instrumental behavior. it’s fine as far as it goes, but it does not address the problem. it just makes people feel as if it does.
Melanie Phillips on the subject.
http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1612
fp,
No, it isn’t just expressive. It’s infrastructure for additional action. There’s a difference.
anat,
wanna bet?
4088 signatures as of noon (Israel time) on Sept. 17, 2007.
Read Caroline Glick in today’s JPost: “IDF demands uncut al-Dura tape” at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411415051&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Hats off to Richard, Philippe, and Nidra Poller — without them (and several other people) this issue would still be under the rug.
As to the value of petitions, the following quote from the JPost article speaks volumes:
“In the aftermath of Karsenty’s civil trial last year, the IDF came under considerable criticism both in Israel and from Jewish groups abroad for its silence on the issue.”
I seem to remember other petition(s) going around about this matter, so I guess it bore some fruit.
Joanne asks where the media is in this.
Probably circling the wagons around Enderlin whilst bitching about the way doctors and lawyers stick together in the face of a complaint by a member of the public.
[…] air, Are We Waking Up Yet? — Richard Landes @ 3:05 am — Print This Post The petition that I’ve posted for signing concer […]
[…] e rushes as soon as he gets an official request, expect long delays. And in the meantime, sign the petition, so that both the judges and Fra […]
[…] ura/ “> Signez la Petition: France2, Publiez les enregistrements secrets d’al Dura! Sign the Petition: France2: Release the Secret Tapes! […]
If France is a free and just society they will release the footage. Keeping the footage hidden only adds to the suspicion that they have something to hid. If in fact it is discovered that the event was staged, all people in responsible positions should be indicted for their crimes.
Please have a way for yourself to escape
France if they come after you to try
and imprison you for wanting to expose
the truth, remember history and what is
going on in other parts of the world, there
is no truly safe place, so keep moving
when you need to in order to stay alive
and keep telling the truth to those left
in other places. BBBB
Gregg,
IF???? You mean, you dk by now if France is or not?
Max,
We are fast running out of places to move to, and that includes Israel.
fp
http://fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com/
[…] deep-seated aversion to self-examination and self-correction, starting with France2’s refusal to release the rest of the footage shot by Talal abu Rahmah that […]
[…] Sign the Petition: France2: Release the Secret Tapes! […]