‘Misleading’ and ‘irresponsible’ headline
News.com.au has been slammed by communal leaders for the headline it ran when Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Ghazal, who has been described as a “heroic martyr” by Hamas, stabbed three people before being killed by Israeli police last week.
NEWS.COM.AU has been slammed by communal leaders for the headline it ran when Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Ghazal, who has been described as a “heroic martyr” by Hamas, stabbed three people before being killed by Israeli police last week.
Ghazal stabbed two people then hid in a building. When an Israel Police officer entered the building Ghazal stabbed him. In response, the officer shot the 19-year-old and killed him.
News.com.au ran the headline, “Israeli police kill Palestinian man”.
After being contacted by The AJN, the website changed the headline to, “Israeli police kill Palestinian attacker”.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry executive director Peter Wertheim said the original headline is a textbook illustration of the meaning of a half-truth.
“By stopping a terrorist knife attack, the Israeli police were doing what all police are supposed to do and actually saved the lives of ordinary people going about their daily lives,” Wertheim said. “Yet the headline misleadingly portrayed the police as killers.
“A more accurate headline would have been ‘Israeli police stop terrorist knife attack’.”
B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said the headline is disappointing and “irresponsible” because it could “easily be misinterpreted by readers”.
“The misleading headline turns the Palestinian terrorist into the victim and the Israeli police officers who were defending themselves from the attempted murderer into stone cold killers,” Abramovich said.
“Why can’t news.com.au label the attacker as a terrorist, when there is no hesitation to do so when it happens in another country?”
JOSHUA LEVI
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