Al-Dura unravelled, again
September 7, 2005 16:18 by BackSpin Editor
In Commentary, Nidra Poller provides the latest critical analysis of the Mohammed Al-Dura incident:
[Al Dura's] story, perhaps the single most powerful force behind the Palestinian cult of child sacrifice over the last years, has been dramatized in spots on Palestinian television urging others to follow in his path, retold in a recruitment video for al Qaeda, and immortalized in epic verse by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
But is it true?
Poller analyzed hours of film from the scene that day, and found a great deal of dramatic acting going on:
The Reuters, AP, and France-2 outtakes that I viewed show two totally different and easily identifiable types of activity at Netzarim junction: real, intifada-style attacks, and crudely falsified battle scenes… In the “reality” zone, excited children and angry young men hurl rocks and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli outpost while shababs (“youths”) standing on the roof of the Twins throw burning tires down onto the caged lookout; this goes on seemingly for hours, without provoking the slightest military reaction from Israeli soldiers.
At the same time, in the “theatrical” zone, Palestinian stringers sporting prestigious logos on their vests and cameras are seen filming battle scenes staged behind the abandoned factory, well out of range of Israeli gunfire. The “wounded” sail through the air like modern dancers and then suddenly collapse. Cameramen jockey with hysterical youths who pounce on the “casualties,” pushing and shoving, howling Allahu akhbar!, clumsily grabbing the “injured,” pushing away the rare ambulance attendant in a pale green polyester jacket in order to shove, twist, haul, and dump the “victims” into UN and Red Crescent ambulances that pull up on a second’s notice and career back down the road again, sirens screaming. In one shot we recognize Talal Abu Rahmeh in his France-2 vest, filming a staged casualty scene.
Melanie Philips writes:
the evidence assembled in this article strongly suggests that France 2 is guilty of one of the most monstrous pieces of deception of modern times whose effects in terms of fomenting hatred, violence and mass murder have been incalculable.
More on the Al Dura incident here, here and here.
Paul McLaughlan
5:41 pm
Sep 07, 2005
The previous report implies the boy was probably already dead, but the latest that he was probably alive. Have I misunderstood something? We need to ensure we are being objective, they’ll discredit this if there are any errors.
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naomi
6:51 pm
Sep 07, 2005
too little too late
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Brad Brzezinski
11:44 pm
Sep 07, 2005
This story needs to be revealed. As recently as June 12th this year, the BBC brought it up again:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4090000/newsid_4096400/4096426.stm
The link is to BBC’s response section where they counter complaints. They actually mention: The footage had a huge impact on the Muslim community in Britain.
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Billy
11:57 pm
Sep 07, 2005
Is nothing sacred any more?
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Olah Chadasha
3:05 pm
Sep 08, 2005
Billy, in a word: NO. There have been reports that he is still alive due to eye wittness reports of seeing him alive and well. Those have not been corroborated. But, forensic and visual evidence clearly show that the bullets fired at the boy did not come from Israeli soldiers’ guns.
-OC
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Jonathan Levy
4:03 pm
Sep 08, 2005
Is the raw footage (the “outtakes” mentioned in the article) available online? I’ve read enough analysis about this affair, I want to see the data for myself.
HonestReporting: Can you find the video and make it available?
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Robert
7:39 pm
Sep 08, 2005
Yes accuracy is paramount as stated above. Although that doesn’t seem to worry the other side who publish and be damned at any opportunity.
I sincerely hope that the al Dura case is exhaustively examined in the world media and is exposed as the sham which I beieve it to be. Perhaps then the victim culture espoused by Palestinians will start to be rolled back, and the vicious anti-semtism of some elements of the media exposed for what they are.
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Eik Corell
3:09 am
Sep 09, 2005
Like Jonathan, I would also like to see it. If possible, it should be circulated around the internet to expose the victim-culture of the Palestinians for what it is: A big sham.
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Brad Brzezinski
6:06 pm
Sep 09, 2005
There’s a new web-site due out now, described here:
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archives/006494.shtml
This incident will be their first entry and will include the out-takes.
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M.J
7:38 pm
Sep 09, 2005
The photo is used in the ITV/ITN competition of ‘The Shot ‘ under the Global Conflict section http://www.itv.com/theshot
The original caption stated ‘shot and killed by Israel soldiers’. I have complained , as I am sure many others have done and the caption has now been changed to ‘killed, and his father wounded when caught in crossfire between Israeli and Palestinians’
Although I asked them to substitute the photo for something less controversial, bearing in mind the possibility that the boy was not killed, they have not done so, but did change the caption.
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It's Almost Supernatural
11:44 pm
Sep 13, 2005
The Al-Dura Mystery
I’m carrying this item a week late, but owing to the number of searches for Muhammed al-Dura that have hit It’s Almost Supernatural I decided to include this anyway. It’s a painfully sensitive topic. Some things should remain sacred, but
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