Versailles, France
An appeals court in Versailles has found France’s most prestigious newspaper, Le Monde, guilty of “racial defamation” against the Jewish people for a 2002 article titled “Israel-Palestine: The Cancer.” The article contended that Israelis had massacred Palestinian civilians at Jenin, an oft-repeated claim that had been definitively debunked by the time of publication. The article also said Jews had morphed from a persecuted people to “a scornful people that takes satisfaction in humiliating others.” The paper was ordered to pay a fine. Most French newspapers, including Le Monde, printed nothing about the original lawsuit or the verdict.
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