Sunday, June 29, 2008

Fauxtography Update

France 2, dragging its feet, eventually produced 18 minutes of film. (There is
practically no such thing as "contempt of court" in such circumstances in the
French judicial system.) The showing of this film made for an eerie moment at
the trial, when the hitherto blasé judges sat up and started watching with more
attention, then took a recess, after which they asked for all of France 2's
footage. It would prove to be the turning point in the proceeding.
You could see Palestinians being carried on stretchers into ambulances, then
coming out again unharmed, all in a kind of carnival atmosphere, with kids
throwing stones and making faces at the camera, despite what was supposed to be
a tense situation. The tape showed occasional gunshots, not continuous firing.
From the general horsing around captured on film by Abu Rahmeh, Mena concluded
that the whole scene must have been staged.
Check out Second Draft if you haven't yet.
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