One of Michelle Malkin’s articles from yesterday pointed me towards yet another media cluster-copulation, one which unfortunately went global.

     The situation is basically this… 30-Sep-2000, “supposed” footage was shot of an uprising against the Israeli police station at the Netzarim Junction in Gaza. This footage “supposedly” showed the death of an “innocent” twelve-year-old boy, Mohammed Al Durah, as he and his father were shot by Israeli soldiers.
     The incident, filmed by Palestinians equipped by France2 News, made global headlines, sparked global criticism of Israel and has been used extensively by terrorists — including bin Laden himself — to illustrate the “godless” Israelis and their “slaughter of innocents.”
     Unfortunately, when you see the entire set of footage, it’s obvious that this is far from what actually happened. In fact, the entire incident was staged, from beginning to end, by Palestinian cameramen and a cast of actors!

     In 2002, two French and German documentaries poked holes in France2’s story, sparking a great deal of interest from media watchdogs and critics. This resulted not in France2 take action against those in its staff responsible for the falsified story… instead, France2 decided to sue three of its strongest critics for “striking at their honor and respectability.”
     Fortunately, the first case against Philippe Karsenty (which began 14-Sep-2006) was dropped, but the next two cases are upcoming on 26-Oct-2006 and 30-Nov-2006.

     Richard Landes, a medieval history professor from Boston University (and witness for the defense in the case against Karsenty), wrote a very informative article for The New Republic chronicling the events. He’s also put up a website, The 2nd Draft, which features two documentaries about the original incident from 2000. His videos make some compelling arguments about what the public really knows about the Palestinian conflict, and may be extremely pertinent in many other situations.
     Check out his documentaries… They’re worth it. Real eye-openers!

     It’s simply amazing how a French news organization can single-handedly screw up so many things, create a Jihaadist martyr out of thin air — which, mind you, caused the deaths of thousands of people worldwide, including 9/11 — and somehow come out of it without so much as a slap on the wrist from their Government.  And for those same people to then have the guts to actually sue the people who point out their fallacy?
     Why … It’s enough to make me wanna eat Freedom Fries.

     In the meantime, this should be a wake-up call to Mainstream Mass-Media (MSM) and Journalists alike: do your damn jobs!