Fake 'martyr's father loses libel lawsuit in France
In 2007, I reported on a story that claimed that the scars that Jamal al-Dura - fake martyr Mohamed's father - claims that he received during the same incident in which Mohamed was killed - were in fact the results of an attack by a gang of 'Palestinians' in 1992 and subsequent surgery from 1994 which grafted a tendon from his foot into his right arm. The story included an interview with the Israeli surgeon who treated al-Dura in 1994, and who says that there is no way those scars game from gunshots. Here's more from Nidra Poller at PJM:Fast forward a bit more than three years. In March 2011, Jamal sued Dr. Yehuda for libel in a French court. The lower court in France found for al-Dura, but on Wednesday, a French Appeals Court overturned the conviction and acquitted Dr. Yehuda.You will note in the picture above that Jamal is cradling his son with his right hand - the same one restored by Israeli surgeons. Probably free of charge.According to the Metula release (link in French), Jamal al Dura declared on medical records in 1992 that Palestinian militia had attacked him with axes. Doctors at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital* were able to save his life but he lost the use of his right hand because they could not repair a ruptured tendon in the forearm. Palestinian doctors referred Jamal to Tal Hashomer [should be Tel Hashomer. CiJ] hospital in Tel Aviv in March 1994. Dr. Yehuda performed reconstructive surgery, grafting a tendon taken from the foot, and restoring almost normal use of the hand. The medical record of that operation also refers to the removal of “foreign bodies,” suggesting that other instruments besides axes were used in the 1992 attack.
Alerted by the Ména [Metula News Agency] to the film of Jamal’s wounds produced in 2004 by Talal Abu Rahma at the demand of France 2 news director Arlette Chabot, to silence investigators, Dr. Yehuda and his colleagues declare that the scars shown in that film were incurred in 1992 and result from axe blade wounds and definitely not from gunshot. They are ready and willing to testify to this in any court.
The Metula release promises further revelations in the near future.
A French appeals court yesterday overturned the libel conviction of an Israeli physician who was sued by the father of Mohammed al-Dura, the boy whose shooting death in September 2000 became a powerful symbol of the second intifada.It's interesting that Haaretz continues to treat Mohamed al-Dura as if he is dead. I don't believe he is dead at all. In fact, he got married seven years after the 'shooting' at the age of 19 or 20 (and no, I can't confirm that, but I'd bet on it).
Jamal al-Dura had displayed to international media outlets scars on his body he claimed were caused by bullets fired by Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
In a 2008 interview with a French Jewish weekly an Israeli orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Yehuda disputed the elder Dura's claim. Yehuda said the scars were not related to the incident in which Mohammed al-Dura, who was 12 years old, died.
Rather, Yehuda said, they were the result of an assault on Dura by Hamas militants who accused him of collaborating with Israel, as well as subsequent surgery performed by Yehuda himself in 1994.
Yehuda, together with the reporter and editor of the French publication, were convicted of libel by a French court in April and ordered to pay thousands of euros in compensation.
Yesterday's ruling was the result of Yehuda's appeal of his conviction.
Labels: France, Jamal al-Dura, libel and slander, Mohamed al-Dura
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:24 PM
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