Israel Matzav: (Partial) translation of French court decision in the Al-Dura case

Monday, May 26, 2008

(Partial) translation of French court decision in the Al-Dura case

Richard Landes has posted a partial translation into English of the French court decision that was rendered last week in the Al-Dura case. The translation is a little bit raw - it looks like French translated to English rather than English (as someone who translates professionally from time to time, I can tell you that - as Richard noted - it's a 'rough and rapid' translation that was posted for the sake of those who were impatient to read it). Richard notes:

Generally speaking, I think this is a devastating decision. The judges go out of their way to criticize everyone involved on the side of France2 (including some backhanded swipes at the lower court), but especially to point out the pervasive “incohérences” not only in Enderlin’s initial broadcast, but his subsequent explanations and actions. In particular, after emphasizing the sharpness of both Karsenty’s language and his accusations — which indeed are defamatory and strike at Enderlin’s and France2’s honor and reputation — the judges assert that, given the evidence he had every right to make these statements, in particular given the importance of the case, the damage it did worldwide, and the fact that Enderlin, as a professional of information with a high public profile has to expect to be subjected to this kind of criticism from co-citizens and colleagues.

Here is a small highlight regarding the missing 'rushes' and what they finally (did not) show, but you should go read the whole thing.

That the two journalists there declare without ambiguity that they told Arlette CHABOT about their “serious doubts,” but their “readiness to dismiss the accusations of ROSENSWEIG about the staging of the death of the child if the viewing of all the rushes of Talal ABOU RAMA confirms that Charles ANDERLIN declared at two occasions at lest, one of which to Telerama : “I cult the agony of the child. It was unbearable… it didn’t add anything,” and, having seen the rushes, noted that “this famous agony which Enderlin affirms having cut from his report does not exist.” ;

That they also observe that “in the minutes that preceded the gunfire, the Palestinians seems to have organized a staged scene, … playing at war with the Israelis and simulating in most of the cases, imaginary injuries,” and the the viewing of the full rushes demonstrates that at the moment when Charles ENDERLIN declares the boy dead… nothing permitted him to affirm that he was really dead and even less that he was killed by Israeli soldiers.” That according to them, the journalists from FRANCE2 assured them during the session in which they saw the rushes that, “their experts even showed that the boy was his by shrapnel (?) or by bullets that ricocheted off the pavement, bullets that, in any case, did not aim at the father or the son” ;

That it is true, that while they noted that their colleague should re cognize that he “extrapolated from the rushes and the version of events supplied by his cameraman,” and that the commentary on the Israeli barbarism “had nothing to do” with the images that went around the world, Denis JEAMBAR and Daniel LECOMTE effuse to fully adopt the thesis of the staging of the death of the child, that they support this decision of the film that Talal ABU FAMAH presented by FRANCE2 on the 18 of November 2004 to show that his injuries of the father corresponded exactly to the bandaging that he had the next day in the hospital of Gaza, without considering the possibility of a contradiction between the photos that were presented and their own observation in the rushes, that “the father wears a T-shirt on which one sees no trace of blood ;

Read it all.

For those who are wondering where Mohamed Al-Dura is today, go here.