French court orders return of photographer’s Gaza image to Int’l sports photography festival
PARIS, Sept. 01 (YPA) – A French administrative court in Caen on Tuesday overturned a decision by the municipality of Deauville to remove a photograph taken by a Palestinian photographer in the Gaza Strip from an international sports photography festival.
The court, which has jurisdiction over the coastal city in Normandy, annulled the municipality’s decision to withdraw the photograph from the public exhibition following a legal challenge filed by the rights organization OLC, which advocates for artistic and cultural freedoms.
The Deauville municipality had decided in mid-August to remove the photograph, which had been displayed at the festival since its opening on June 6, after receiving demands from unidentified parties.
The original image was replaced with a photograph showing a group of cyclists, prompting widespread criticism and condemnation among France’s left-wing political circles and leading the rights organization to take the case to court.
The photograph was taken by Palestinian photographer Jihad Al-Sharafi, a photojournalist with the Associated Press, on February 14. It shows football players from Gaza and Egypt playing amid the rubble left by Israel’s ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The image captures an extraordinary sporting moment amid widespread destruction, portraying Palestinian resilience and the continuation of daily life despite the exceptional circumstances imposed on civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
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