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It has been five years since Philippe Karsenty's legal battles began in his native France over the infamous September 2000 Mohammad al-Dura video -- a video that became a rallying cry for Palestinian violence during the Intifada and around the world, a year before the Sept. 11 attacks.

In that time, and with very little changing in the courts, Karsenty has brought his battle to New York City, just one stop on a worldwide speaking tour he is taking to make his case that the notorious video is a fake.

"The most important thing for me now is that I'm trying to lecture all over the world," Karsenty told The Jewish State in an Oct. 25 phone interview. "I was in Istanbul two weeks ago, I am now in America, and I'm going to London after that along with other cities in Europe and France, then to India. My purpose now is to make people understand all over the world that France 2, the French public TV which broadcast the fake news report, is not willing to admit the truth about the blood libel they made nine years ago, and international pressure will make them reveal that."

Karsenty was sued by the French government over allegations he published against France 2 television detailing inconsistencies he saw in the 55-second video of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy supposedly being shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at the Netzarim junction of the Gaza Strip.

According to Karsenty, these include: A biometric analysis of faces proving that Muhammad is not the boy presented at the Gaza morgue; a lip-reading technique revealing Mohammed al-Dura's father talking to people standing behind the cameraman; the boy filmed by France 2 moving a red piece of cloth down his body for no apparent reason; the lack of blood on Muhammad and his father when they were both supposed to have received a total of 15 bullets; and the body at Muhammad's funeral arriving at the hospital before 10 a.m., whereas France 2's footage was filmed after 2:30 p.m.

"I went all over Paris' establishment saying that Jews have been assaulted all over the world for this blood libel and to please correct it. And nobody wanted to correct it," Karsenty had previously told The Jewish State for a March 27 article, which broke the news of several major pieces of evidence uncovered and included in a new German documentary. "All places said they were not interested. I kept going because I thought it was important for the basic truth, the French democracy, the Western world, the state of Israel, and the Jewish people."

In his talks, Karsenty plans on showing the al-Dura video and detailing the errors discovered by Israeli scientist Nahum Shahaf and by himself, which triggered the most recent round of court battles.

"I show why it's a blood libel, why it's a fake document, and I conclude by showing that even until this year, the French public TV and the French authorities are still defending against the blood libel, that they are telling more lies to cover more lies," Karsenty said.

That specific documentary, aired on German ARD television, almost led to a confrontation between the two public networks in March when ARD aired the documentary discrediting the France 2 footage. Karsenty said that although France 2 threatened legal action against ARD, they did not follow through.

"They didn't want to start a new legal battle, because they would lose," Karsenty said. "They are still threatening legal battles, they are still claiming that they will sue anyone who is trying to expose it, but they don't want to go against someone so powerful."

The same documentary France 2 tried to stop will be screened in Israel on the first public TV channel Nov. 18. And France 2's legal action against Karsenty has not stopped him, either; after losing the first trial, Karsenty appealed, and the verdict was overturned in May 2008, but an official admission of wrongdoing was never made by France 2 or by the French government. Karsenty points directly to this year's recipient of France's Legion of Honor award, Charles Enderlin, as France's denial-turned-reality: Enderlin was the journalist who originally aired the al-Dura video and whom Karsenty holds responsible for its content.

"Someone who was responsible for broadcasting and protecting such a disaster is a shame," Karsenty said. "They're not even in denial that the government is not informed. I met the highest officials, and they are brainwashed. They say that [Karsenty and other al-Dura debunkers] are a bunch of nutcases and they literally refuse to listen to our explanations."

Although lower officials in the French parliament admit to the video's faults, Karsenty said that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his advisers remain in denial. Karsenty hopes that their stance will change with his worldwide speaking tour.

"The president has to make the decision if he's fed up of seeing France accused [of protecting such a blood libel]," Karsenty said. "The question is, as France 2 refuses to admit the simple truth, the French government has to order France 2 to reveal the truth, so they're still lying and denying the truth. I've been to the French state department, and they agreed it was a fraud... but when will the information reach the top? It seems that there is no communication between the bottom and the top. The bottom knows, the top doesn't, but I don't have access to the top yet."

Karsenty's campaign seems to be attracting attention. Several American organizations, despite the opposition of the American Jewish Committee, have come to Karsenty's aid.

"CAMERA helps me, the Zionist Organization of America helps me, the Middle East Forum helps me, the Hudson Institute in New York helps me, [and] the American Freedom Alliance helps me," Karsenty said. "These people who help to support the truth really deserve to be commended. They are on my side; they are strong."

However, Karsenty's relations with the AJC, both in America and France, have been rocky, and he believes that their strong ties to the French government are a severe disadvantage.

"Should we trust a nobody against the nice organization?" Karsenty asked rhetorically. "AJC needs to show they have access and influence. They traded honesty for access, and in order to keep access to Sarkozy, they had to be apologetic for the anti-Semitism in France... their representative in Paris, Valerie Hoffenberg, has been all over in France disgracing me. They had a double language: nice words in English when eventually I won the trial but they always refused to say anything in French about the case, where in fact it was needed."

Even with this setback, Karsenty continues to fight his battle in French courts while presenting his case to the international community, hoping to gain supporters around the world to see what he and his allies have proven in the al-Dura video.

"Nothing has changed except we gained more supporters over the world!" Karsenty exclaimed. "Little by little, there are people joining the team of the truth -- some politicians and journalists [as well as lay people]. Now we're getting close to the victory!"