Fighting the Blood Libels Made Against Israel
You’d think that fighting an uphill battle would get exhausting after a few years. But from all indications, al-Dura hoax theorist and media analyst Philippe Karsenty shows no signs of fatigue.
Karsenty came to public attention when he was sued for libel by France 2 after accusing the network of broadcasting staged footage of Mohammed al-Dura’s shooting death during a gun fight in Gaza in 2000. France 2 originally won the case, but the judgment was overturned by a Paris court in May 2008.
One would assume that would be sufficient victory needed to lay it all to rest. But a decade after al-Dura, an intrepid Karsenty insists the fight to clear Israel’s name is far from over.
Visiting Israel in February on yet another tireless round of campaigning, he was riding the high of a favorable Haaretz op-ed piece penned in January by military analyst Reuven Pedatzur. Pedatzur praised Karsenty’s relentless al-Dura investigations and accused Israel’s government of neglect. “Mohammed al-Dura — Israel’s greatest PR failure,” the title railed.
Karsenty agrees with the sentiment and his confidence is bolstered by support also flowing forth from Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick.
Israel’s foreign ministry has taken a “‘let’s forget about this entire affair — we don’t care’ attitude instead of fighting for the truth,” Karsenty states as we sit together in the lobby of Tel Aviv’s David Intercontinental Hotel. “But the affair and its implications are far from over.”
Because as he continues traveling the world and airing al-Dura footage clips that he says prove the shooting was staged, the analyst arrived in Israel to be met with what he describes as complacent and patronizing apathy.
“RAI is running an anti-Israel documentary in the coming weeks that will further disseminate the Israeli blood libel. The BBC ran a documentary, Generation Jihad, earlier this month that included a suggestion al Dura was faked,” Karsenty explains.
“A decent human being doesn’t want to live a fraudulent life of fraudulent claims. Two years after winning my trial, the very government that should be supporting me is undermining my efforts.”
Karsenty says Israel’s officials have a responsibility to clear the country’s good name. But in fact, his understanding is that foreign ministry front people have been given directives to not support him.
It is High Time for the Israelis to Expose the connections of Charles Enderlin, who is the source of this Blood-Libel, with the Highest Israeli Echelones such as The President.
NOTE: Mr. Enderlin is a Jew and an Israeli Citizen who served in the IDF’s PR…
HINT: Mr. Enderlin told Esther Schapira that he filmed Amir’s Arrest on the night of November 4th, 1995…
Israeli elitists, similar in their appeasement mindset to their western, leftist counterparts, play a see no evil, hear no evil record in their head when confronted with the hatred of their enemies.
Rational people tend to think that their Foreign Ministries work in their best interests. For the most part they do not. In fact, many serve as obstructionists, in order to appease international leaders who want nothing more than to harm their citizens.
Israel’s leadership-nary a statesman among them-are particularly afflicted with the virulent disease of appeasement. Dr Kenneth Levin, in his groundbreaking book, The Oslo Syndrome:Delusions of a People Under Siege’ does a stellar job in explaining the heretofore inexplicable.
Contrary to the way most rational people would behave, Israel’s leaders give Karsenty the cold shoulder simply because he IS the bearer of bad news, revealing the elephant in the room which has to be tackled in order for the nation to survive. However, instead of assisting him they behave as if he IS the problem, stirring up trouble for no good reason. Delusional in the extreme….
Regardless, Karsenty IS a hero and the history books will tell the sordid tale. Israel’s leaders who refuse to expose Al-Dura are not only cowardly fools, but in a real sense aiders and abettors to the jihad against us. NO doubt about it.
Karsenty came to public attention when he was sued for libel by France 2 after accusing the network of broadcasting staged footage of Mohammed al-Dura’s shooting death during a gun fight in Gaza in 2000. France 2 originally won the case, but the judgment was overturned by a Paris court in May 2008.
One would assume that would be sufficient victory needed to lay it all to rest.
Only an idiot who wants nothing he writes taken seriously would assume that. See if you can understand this. Karsenty was sued for libel by France 2, he won the appeal. All that means is that the court found he didn’t libel, that he presented a credible argument that he wasn’t knowingly lying, and that there was doubt to the real truth. That. is. all.
Israel has survived against implacable enemies because of its well-equipped, well-trained, creative military force. That’s on the battlefield.
On the propaganda front Israel basically cedes the battlefield. It has to recognize this as important in some ways as the clash of arms and take vigorous, constant, innovative action to counter the lies and misrepresentations. The assumption seems to be that Israel’s case is obvious and just and fair-minded people will realize that.
This is on a level with my assumption that one day Lucy Lawless is going to show up on my doorstep and ask if she can come in and get out of these wet clothes.
There is a stereotype that Jews are as a group smart. Israel’s excuse for hasbara is refutation of that.
By the way, a year or so back J Street endorsed a production of Caryl Churchill’s playlet, “Seven Jewish Children.” Then they backtracked and said well, they didn’t actually endorse the sentiments therein but they supported the production because they wanted to provoke conversation.
The text is available on-line. If anyone read it, please tell me how this is as close to the blood libel as makes no never-mind. I’m also curious to know precisely what sort of conversation J Street wanted to prompt.
1. Enderline told Schapira that he was the only one filming “Amir’s arrest” on 4/11/95. He explanation to the fact that neither he nor France 2 refrained from publiciziing this sensational piece of evidence to this very day was even more sensational: That such publication might enhance what he described as “the slander as if Shimon Peres was behind the assassination of Rabin.
2. Karsenty is presently engaged in an effort to awaken a dormant Official Israel to its best Interests, namely to officially demand an upfront apology by France 2. Therefore he is very mild in describing Israel’s behavior during his liable trial: Not only did it not support him,but it went out of its way to support Enderline!
3. When “operation leadcast” started foreign Press was denied access into Gaza. Guess whom did the foreign jurnalists nominate to negotiate the matter with the state of Israel? Enderline. And guess who was one of the 3 foreign jurnalists who finally gained access to the fighting zone? Yes,you got it!
3. There exist an evergrowing body of hard facts ruling out the feasibility of Amir’s being Rabin’s assassin. Oficial Israel is still trying to turn a blind eye to this body of evidence,probably because of the personal consequences a eopening of the assassination’s inquiry may inflict on leading political figures in Israel.
4.Every inteligent person must ask themselves a series of simple question:
a.Do Enderline and/or France 2 hold a piece of evidence contradicting Amir’s being Rabin’s assassin?
b. What other reason could possibly drive Israel to act against its best interests whenever Enderline and France 2 are involved?
c. Did Amir indeed shoot Rabin?
Sorry for the spelling mistakes in my previous version: here is a corrected one!
1. Enderline told Schapira that he was the only one filming “Amir’s arrest” on 4/11/95. His explanation to the fact that both himself and France 2 refrained from publicizing this sensational piece of evidence to this very day was even more sensational: That such publication might enhance what he described as “the slander as if Shimon Peres was behind the assassination of Rabin”.
2. Karsenty is presently engaged in an effort to awaken a dormant Official Israel to its best Interests, namely to officially demand an upfront apology by France 2. Therefore he is very mild in describing Israel’s behavior during his liable trial: Not only did it not support him, but it went out of its way to support Enderline!
3. When “Operation Lead Cast” started foreign Press was denied access into Gaza. Guess whom did the foreign journalists nominate to negotiate the matter with the state of Israel? Enderline. And guess who was one of the 3 foreign journalists who finally gained access to the fighting zone? Yes,you got it!
3. There exist an ever -growing body of hard facts ruling out the feasibility of Amir’s being Rabin’s assassin. Official Israel is still trying to turn a blind eye to this body of evidence, probably because of the personal consequences a reopening of the assassination’s inquiry may inflict on leading political figures in Israel.
4.Every intelligent person must ask themselves a series of simple question:
a. Do Enderline and/or France 2 hold a piece of evidence contradicting Amir’s being Rabin’s assassin?
b. What other reason could possibly drive Israel to act against its best interests whenever Enderline and France 2 are involved?
c. Did Amir indeed shoot Rabin?
Mr. Josh Lincoln (#3 above): you either did not read the article or intentionally ignore the following portion, which refutes your ‘final conclusion’ (“That. is. all.”)…
Here is it, to ensure that you understand what I am saying:
Q: “Why not give it a rest already?”
A: “Because the Goldstone Report is the son of Mohammed al-Dura,” he coolly replies.
Had the Israeli government done a proper job of staunching the slander ten years ago, he explains, the worst blood libel in history against the state wouldn’t have persisted. Like a cancer spreading from an appendage to the entire body, Karsenty says, the UN Human Rights Council’s anti-Israel report is a direct product of al-Dura and packs a particularly powerful punch because it was created and defended by a Jew. “Just like Charles Enderlin. They are both Jews,” Karsenty deadpans. “The media lies, the Arabs lie, Israel does nothing, and nobody challenges the libel.”
NOW, read again my comment (#1 above), and try to understand…
Aw, come on guys. Let’s just come out and say it: Yig’al ‘Amir was not the assassin who killed YitzHaq Rabin. Yoram Rubin, his alleged bodyguard, attempted to kill Rabin in the car that was on the way to Ichilov Hospital. Rabin was admitted with two bullet wounds, and was stabilized there. When he was stable, the Shabak ordered out the doctors and Shim’on Peres and his entourage entered for a time. When Peres left, Rabin was no longer stable and when he died, he was found to have three bullet wounds.
Everything I have stated has witnesses, people who told these things to Barry Chamish. In addition, Peres, in a documentary memorializing Rabin claimed to have heard the last words Rabin spoke. Further, one can deduce a lot of this from a video of the shooting.
It really does get obvious who set this all up. All the big-wigs in Israel know this, and are afraid to open their mouths. Yoram Rubin was a “bodyguard” for Ariel Sharon also. And he suffered two “strokes”, the second one being near fatal, if not actually fatal.
#s 9 & 10 above are ‘strange’ (to say the least), and the website’s moderators are already trapped; otherwise, what other reason do they have to censor another comment of mine?
It’s high time Israel used some Crime Scene Investigators to check the “facts”. I’m not one, however, when al Dura happen and I saw the footage on the news, I said to my wife ,”that’s the wrong caliber. Hamas uses AK47s which are a 7.62 caliber. The holes they left in the wall were characteristicaly 7.62 and that’s a big hole. Israeli soldiers use 5.6 caliber weapons which would have left a much smaller hole. Later the question of the direction of fire came up and the man filming behind al Dura. It only backed up what I had said. In operation cast lead a child was shown in an Egyptian hospital. An Xray on the child’s head revealed a bullet lodged in it. The doctor explained that an Israeli soldier had walked up behind the child and shot it in the head. Again it was the wrong caliber. Those of us who have had military training will also bear up what I’m about to say. A 5.6 caliber bullet fired within a close range completely disintegrates on impact. That is true to up to one hundred yards. If a child had been shot at close range by an Israeli soldier, the child in most likelihood would not have had a head. Yet nobody came out to refute the Arab evidence.
The BBC documentary Generation Jihad did not include “a suggestion al Dura was faked” (unless a correction was made later). It said half-way through Episode 1 without qualification “In September 2000, 12 year old Muhammed al-Durah was shot dead by Israeli soldiers,” as it showed Endelin’s infamous France 2 video clip.
There is a very simple reason the Israeli government does not want to fight the Al-Dura battle, and it’s this:
The Israeli side has in its arsenal logical arguments, testimony by experts, etc.
The Palestinian side has emotive pictures and video.
The pictures will win. Each time the dispute is exposed to the media, there will be tearful images on the Palestinian side, and talking heads with blackboards on the Israeli side. Even if there is an official verdict going Israel’s way, it’s still possible that the whole process will do more harm than good.
Go get me a video from another cameraman who filmed the whole thing by accident from a different angle, revealing a blatant hoax, and then you’ll see the goverment do a 180.
No. 14 misses the main points here:
a. Enderlin and France 2 lost in court: Here is a piece of news to elaborate on; isn’t it? The Israely Ministry for Forein Affairs could and should trumpete Karesenty’s victory all over the globe wouldn’t it have been blackmailed by France 2 probably to this very day.
b. Official Israel was not indifferent during the trial, Mr. levy. It laboured industriously to have Enderline defeat Karsenty, thus jettisoning its very “reason detre” (and forgive my French here!)for no apparent reason save the one I mentioned in no. 7 above: The blackmail of the govenments of Israel since 1995 in lieu with Rabin’s assassination.
France 2 probably holds a conclusive evidence to what has already been proven circumstancially by Israely official documents time and time again: That Amir couldn’t have killed Rabin even though he might intended to do so. Everybody can easily google “therabinkilling” for the documents!
All the comments here are from the pro-Israel side. I will never believe that the boy was shot by Palestinians, sorry. The fact that Israel is protesting the Goldstone report will backfire too, because all it does is make Israel and its supporters look like they will maniacally fight any charge even if true. People see this.
George,
I will never believe that the boy was shot by Palestinians, sorry.
You’ll always believe the lies of the Arabs and of the Americans who enable them. That’s why we Jews can’t afford to worry about what you think. And that is why we Jews cannot afford to forget the Jew-hatred of non-Jews – or forgive it. That is why David ben-Gurion said, “It doesn’t matter what the goyim think, it matters what we do.”
That is why we Jews have to get rid of the Jewish trash among us – like Enderline, Barak, Netanyahu, Emanuel and Peres – so that what we do will be moral and right, instead of immoral and tainted with evil.
All that means is that the court found he didn’t libel, that he presented a credible argument that he wasn’t knowingly lying, and that there was doubt to the real truth. That. is. all.