Israel has released the finding of an investigation into the widely-publicized incident where the IDF supposedly killed a little boy, Mohammed al-Dura, during a firefight with terrorists. The evidence does not support that al-Dura was killed by the IDF.
The government review of the incident and its implications found that “the France 2 report’s central claims and accusations had no basis in the material which the station had in its possession at the time… There is no evidence that the IDF was in any way responsible for causing any of the alleged injuries to Jamal or the boy.”
The committee determined that “contrary to the report’s claim that the boy is killed, the committee’s review of the raw footage showed that in the final scenes, which were not broadcast by France 2, the boy is seen to be alive” and that he “moved his arm and turned his head.”
Charles Enderlin, the journalist who insists that his film is accurate and the boy was killed, is currently fighting a libel suit in France with Philippe Karsenty, who says that Enderlin and France 2 deliberately edited the film to omit evidence that the IDF did not kill the boy. Of course he says that the Israeli report is wrong because he wasn’t interviewed. He also absolutely refuses to release the raw footage of the incident. Why is that, we wonder?
You can read the Israeli report here. But propaganda has been a huge part of the Palestinian war with Israel. Remember the lies of Jenin? The supposed massacre that never was? This BBC news article, which is the fourth in a Google search on “jenin massacre”, still carries the lies without correction–untouched since 2002.
It’s important that this report is spread far and wide. The picture of a frightened boy crouching behind his father was an icon of supposed Israeli brutality and Palestinian helplessness. That the boy was probably killed by Palestinian fire never really entered the equation in a media that is predisposed towards an anti-Israel bias.
The French courts are due to give their final decision on the Karsenty case Wednesday.
You want to settle this once and for all? Give us the raw footage, Charles. Any less, and we know you have something to hide.