Guardian headline on terror attack focuses on death of Palestinian perpetrator

As we’ve noted previously when commenting on misleading Guardian headlines, it would be difficult to find an example of terror in world – outside of Israel – where media outlets prioritize the fate of the perpetrators over that of their victims.  

Sure enough, the Guardian has done it again, with the following headline accompanying an Associated Press (AP) report on yesterday’s deadly terror attack in Beit Horon.

guardian headline terror attack

 

What possibly would motivate editors to lead with the death of the terrorists, while relegating the victims of their attack (one of whom died after the story was published) to the strapline?

It is important to note that, when publishing articles written by news agencies such as AP, editors have control over the headline, strapline and photo choices.  As such, it’s quite telling that the AP article itself begins appropriately, by prioritizing the victims:

Two Palestinians stabbed Israeli women in a mini-market in a West Bank settlement before being shot dead, Israeli police said.

So, somewhere along the line, a Guardian editor decided – in spite of the clear sequence of events described in the lead passage – that the death of the Palestinian terrorists was the most important element of the story. 

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