France 2 - Muhammad Al-Durrah Shooting

Muhammad Al-Durrah Shooting

On 30 September 2000 France 2 aired the famous footage of the shooting of Muhammad al-Durrah in the Gaza Strip. The scene was filmed by a Palestinian journalist, Talal Abu Rahma, who worked for the station. The voiceover, blaming the killing on fire from the Israeli Defence Forces, was provided by the channel's reporter Charles Enderlin. Subsequently that account was put in doubt, with others suggesting that the fatal shots could not have come from the IDF position. France 2 later launched libel actions against commentators who alleged that the incident was staged. Although France 2 initially won a case against one of those critics, Philippe Karsenty, that judgment was overturned on appeal in May 2008. Based upon evidence presented by Karsenty, the court held that libel allegations could not be supported and upheld Karsenty's right to criticize the station over its coverage of this affair.