GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF A HOAX

French Judge Orders Court Screening of Al-Dura Video Footage
An appeals court judge in Paris ordered France 2 TV to show the court 25 minutes of raw video footage shot on Sept. 30, 2000, in Gaza in which the Palestinian boy Mohammed al-Dura apparently was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants. Al-Dura's shooting death became an icon for Palestinian suffering, but the Israeli army concluded after an investigation that the boy could not possibly have been hit by Israeli bullets. When Philippe Karsenty, director of the media watchdog group Media-Ratings, called France 2's exclusive video of the incident "a hoax," he was found guilty of slander. He appealed the decision, and on Wednesday the appeals judge ordered that the video be released. Several French and U.S. journalists who have seen the raw footage have indicated the shooting might have been staged by Palestinians. (JTA)