Posted on 07/27/2011 2:30:55 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
Judges of the High Court of Justice have ruled that Arab film director Mohammed Bakri will not have to compensate the IDF fighters for the defamatory and false content of his film 'Jenin Jenin.
The film portrays IDF fighters as vicious war criminals, presenting falsified testimony claiming that IDF soldiers cracked the skulls of women, children and elderly people during the bloody house to house battle in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002
Thirteen IDF soldiers were killed in that battle, because the IDF refrained from air strikes to flush out terrorists so as to avoid hurting civilians, even though the civilians had been warned to leave.
A previous court ruling on the libel lawsuit against Bakri brought by reservists who fought in Jenin confirmed that the film was riddled with falsehoods and libel, but also found that Bakri did not have to provide compensation because Israel's law on libel does not make it possible to compensate a large group of people. A High Court Judge upheld the ruling on appeal today.
The Judges admitted that the average audience tends to believe Bakris lies, but the films slander is directed at the IDF at large, and not at an individual. As a result, Bakri doesnt owe compensation to the IDF soldiers portrayed. They added that they were not comfortable with their ruling, but were confined to the letter of the Israeli Slander Law.
The court had originally proposed a compromise, by which Bakri would not define his film as a documentary, in exchange for the removal of the slander claim, but the offended soldiers refused the terms.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
presenting falsified testimony claiming that IDF soldiers cracked the skulls of women, children and elderly people
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