Philippe Karsenty, the head of a French media watchdog group, is claiming victory in his long-running battle with France’s main television news network over his claim that the purported death of Palestinian youth Mohammad al-Dura was faked.

A French appeals court ruled last week he did not libel television reporter Charles Enderlin and France 2 when he claimed its report on al-Dura’s death was a hoax.

Karsenty has maintained that France 2 falsely claimed al-Dura, 12, was killed by Israeli soldiers in September 2000, early in the al-Aqsa (second) intifadah. The sight of al-Dura and his father huddled behind a concrete pipe at a crossroads in Gaza became an iconic symbol of the intifidah and was used to vilify Israel on an international scale. However, Karsenty believes the incident was staged, that al-Dura was never shot and that France 2 lied about the entire incident.

The Paris Court of Appeal vindicated that perspective, he asserted last week.

The language employed by the judge in supporting my position “was beyond any expectation,” he said in a telephone interview from Paris. “The judge understood that the news report was truly 100 per cent fake. Every line of the verdict supports my assumption.

“The court said I have the right to say my statement – that the report was faked, that we’ve been duped by them.”

Enderlin rejects that analysis. He said the court did not support Karsenty’s claim the event was staged, only that Karsenty had the right to criticize the report and in doing so was sincere. Enderlin said he and the network planned to appeal.

The video at the heart of the case was shot at the Netzarim junction in Gaza on Sept. 30, 2000, by Palestinian cameraman Talal Abu Rahman, who worked for France 2. Enderlin was in Ramallah at the time. However, he narrated the report that aired, which was picked up around the world.

It showed al-Dura and his father crouching behind a barrel-shaped pipe in front of a wall, with the elder al-Dura apparently attempting to shield his son from Israeli fire. The video then shows the son lying prostrate, apparently shot. (Critics of France 2 noted al-Dura moved slightly even after Enderlin proclaimed him dead.)

Karsenty said the video became a staple of Palestinian propaganda to frame the intifadah as one of brutal Israelis shooting defenceless Palestinian children. He said his cause was not helped by Israel’s apology before all the facts were in. He noted that the al-Dura image was on the wall behind U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl when he was killed by Al Qaeda.

After referring to the video as a hoax, he was sued for libel by France 2 and Enderlin. They won at trial, but last week the Paris Court of Appeal overturned that decision, leading Karsenty to claim victory.

Karsenty believes the appeal court decision leaves Enderlin “with no credibility.”

He added: “I have the right to say that the report was faked, that we’ve been duped by them.”

Despite the decision in what has been a high-profile case, there has been little media attention in France to his victory. It’s been a virtual “blackout,” he said.

“Nobody talks about the verdict in France. Try to find any written material in France. There is a strict law that France 2 has to be right and Karsenty has to be like a Holocaust denier,” he quipped, referring to court manoeuvres by Enderlin’s lawyer that tried to paint him as a crank.

“If I had lost, they would have covered it. But I won, so they’re not paying attention to it. They don’t want to inform the people. The situation in France in terms of the media is horrible.

“We live in a little USSR in France… The media outlets are lying. When it comes to certain subjects like the Middle East, they’re openly lying. They’re all telling the same lie.”

Critics of the mainstream media’s coverage of the intifadah argue it had been taken in by “Pallywood,” an effort by Palestinians to fabricate phony incidents as part of a propaganda war against Israel. Richard Landes, an American professor with a blog at www.augeanstables.com, analyzed video shot by several news camera people on that day at Netzarim that show Palestinian youths repeatedly faking injuries. They are herded to waiting ambulances by frantic accomplices and the phony injuries are reported as real, he said in his blog.