Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
The Guardian headline on Palestine that’s shaming the entire field of journalism
Israel’s military reportedly killed seven Palestinians during a raid, and the ensuing gunfight also killed an Israeli lieutenant colonel. Other than a Hamas commander, all the Palestinians were aged between 19 and 25.
Reporting on the raid, however, the Guardian went with the following headline:
ah yes, the rules of writing always go out the window when there’s news out of gaza pic.twitter.com/OILRq80kQo
— sara yasin ? (@sarayasin) November 12, 2018
The Guardian‘s tweet soon seemed to disappear. But it was too late:
The (now changed) headline positioned seven Palestinian deaths as less important than one Israeli death. On top of that, it also claimed that the Palestinians simply “died” while the Israeli was “killed”.
“Racist headline”
Many on social media reacted in angry disbelief:
Without reading the article, you might assume that someone killed the officer but the Palestinians just died by themselves ..
— Not The Only Dreamer (@CBrussChange) November 12, 2018
The Palestinians were killed as well https://t.co/MzPJHwloAy
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) November 12, 2018
You don’t see what’s wrong with that headline right?
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) November 12, 2018
Racist headline, as to be expected from this trash newspaper. #BoycottTheGuardian https://t.co/3fl96sJdE9
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) November 12, 2018
If you're a @guardian subscriber, this is the kind of bias you're funding.
Yes, they eventually changed the headline: *after* being heavily criticised on social media.https://t.co/3I6ONeYkwx pic.twitter.com/BrsGg7Z79f
— Media Lens (@medialens) November 12, 2018
Guardian censorship on Israel’s occupation
A number of former Guardian journalists have previously expressed concern over the outlet’s coverage of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Guardian dumped former columnist Nafeez Ahmed for reporting on Israel’s colonial interest in Palestinian resources. Ahmed used his editorial freedom to publish a piece about Israel targeting Palestinian gas reserves: $4bn worth of natural gas was found off the Gaza coast back in 2000. The Guardian closed Ahmed’s environment blog the day after he posted the article. Former Guardian opinion contributor Jonathan Cook allegedly experienced similar censorship on Palestine.
Meanwhile, renowned journalist John Pilger wrote his last Guardian piece in 2015. He said the corporate outlet axed his column in a “purge”, stressing:
my written journalism is no longer welcome – probably [its] last home was The Guardian, which three years ago got rid of people like me and others in pretty much a purge of those who were saying what The Guardian no longer says.
The Guardian can be an important resource, and it occasionally hosts some fantastic opinion writing. But its reporting on issues such as Israel and Palestine is unforgivably weak.
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