Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick sits with Richard Landes, the creator of Pallywood the movie, during a discussion with American bloggers recently in Tel Aviv. (GP)
In Pallywood, Richard Landes questioned the authenticity of the footage of the Al-Dura (al-durrah) tape and disputed whether al-Durrah was killed by Palestinian gunfire or was killed at all- a hypothesis that a number of other commentators have also supported.
Today Caroline Glick reported in her column at the Jerusalem Post that the IDF after 7 years has asked for an uncut version of the al-Dura tape:
IDF demands uncut al-Dura tape
On September 10, 2007 the deputy commander of the IDF’s Spokesman’s Office, Col. Shlomi Am-Shalom, submitted a letter to the France 2 television network’s permanent correspondent in Israel, Charles Enderlin, regarding Enderlin’s story from September 30, 2000, in which he televised 55 seconds of edited footage from the Netzarim junction in the central Gaza Strip purporting to show IDF forces shooting and killing 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura.
After its exclusive broadcast that day, France 2 offered the edited film free of charge to all media outlets. The footage, and the story of the purported IDF killing of al-Dura, was quickly rebroadcast around the world.
Within days, al-Dura became a symbol of the Palestinian war against Israel. His name has been repeatedly invoked by terrorists and their supporters as a justification for killing Israelis, Jews and their Western supporters.
In his letter, Am-Shalom asked for the entire unedited 27-minute film that was shot by France 2’s Palestinian cameraman Talal Abu-Rahma that day, as well as the footage filmed by Abu-Rahma on October 1, 2000. Am-Shalom requested that the broadcast-quality films be sent to his office no later than September 15. France 2 has yet to hand over the requested film.
The IDF’s move came against the backdrop of French media watchdog Philippe Karsenty’s legal battle with France 2 regarding the network’s coverage of the al-Dura affair.
Last year, France 2 and Enderlin sued Karsenty, who runs the Internet media watchdog Web site Media Ratings, for defamation for a letter he sent out in 2004 accusing France 2 of staging the al-Dura story.
There is more on this controversial film at the Jerusalem Post.
And… If you have never seen the Pallywood documentary, it is posted on YouTube (HERE) and every minute is worth watching.
