Posted on 06/02/2005 3:11:36 PM PDT by dervish
A French Court finds a pillar of the French media. Le Monde, guilty of defamation against Israel and the Jewish people. The Wall Street Journal reports: A French court last week found three writers for Le Monde, as well as the newspaper's publisher, guilty of "racist defamation" against Israel and the Jewish people. In a groundbreaking decision, the Versailles court of appeal ruled that a comment piece published in Le Monde in 2002, "Israel-Palestine: The Cancer," had whipped up anti-Semitic opinion.
The writers of the article, Edgar Morin (a well-known sociologist), Danièle Sallenave (a senior lecturer at Nanterre University) and Sami Nair (a member of the European parliament), as well as Le Monde's publisher, Jean-Marie Colombani, were ordered to pay symbolic damages of one euro to a human-rights group and to the Franco-Israeli association. Le Monde was also ordered to publish a condemnation of the article, which it has yet to do.
Of course, these defamation laws in Europe are usually employed to punish those critical of politically correct groups, especially Muslims and Arabs. Orianna Fallaci is currently facing prosecution for her critical writings in that vein. So these laws are not a good thing for freedom of speech.
However, they do exist. So they might as well be applied across the board, at least until they can be repealed. Of course, slander of israel and Jews is commonplace in Europe, so the Le Monde case is merely a grain of sand at a very big beach. And the decision does not exactly sport any teeth. But it is a start.
Hat tip: Ed Lasky
ping!
One lousy euro in damages!?! I can see France is really taking anti-Semitism seriously. </sarcasm>
"A French Court finds a pillar of the French media. Le Monde, guilty of defamation against Israel and the Jewish people. The Wall Street Journal reports: A French court last week found three writers for Le Monde, as well as the newspaper's publisher, guilty of "racist defamation" against Israel and the Jewish people. In a groundbreaking decision, the Versailles court of appeal ruled that a comment piece published in Le Monde in 2002, "Israel-Palestine: The Cancer," had whipped up anti-Semitic opinion."
Be still, my beating heart! Hell may be frozen over...
But this is the standard punishment in France for these "racial hatred" cases. Incitation of racial hatred, denial of the holocaust, etc. These are criminal offenses, on the one hand.
On the other hand, France is a nation with a long tradition of free speech and free political expression.
How, then, does one juxtapose the right to speak with laws that protect against crying "fire" in a crowded theatre?
By having a trial and a conviction, thereby gaining the public consciousness and attention, but then imposing a symbolic penalty of one Euro.
glad you saw this I meant to ping you.
I agree. The damages are normally symbolic. The real harm is to reputation if it is a newspaper. I'd like to see that apology.
The apology will be couched in terms that are not.
There is no remorse at Le Monde at all, and there will be no pretense that there is. What, after all, can the court do if it does not think Le Monde's apology sufficiently contrite?
Nothing.
Yes, that one Euro IS very symbolic, of the French willingness to accommodate Jew-haters of every stripe.
I think there is significance here. The 'new anti-Semitism' is couched in political terms, as anti-Israel. This judgement says they are the same thing. This is a point that Europe has not wanted to concede.
Thanks Derv' for the ping.
:')
The fact that Tariq Ramadan-the lineal descendent of the man who founded the Muslim Brotherhood-is now a respected, legitimate scholar should set off alarm bells in the mind of anyone with half a conscience.
Do we really need to wait for another Kristallnacht?
France and Europe in general are not alone in allowing the airing of snuff films by the terrorist mass-murderers.
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