UPDATE
Following our complaint, the Financial Times has updated its headline, removing the word “Israel” from its headline, which now reads: “Netanyahu hails ‘strong’ security for fall in attacks.” While it does not specifically refer to Palestinian attacks, it is, nonetheless, a significant improvement.
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The Financial Times reports that the wave of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis is subsiding, according to the Shin Bet internal security service. Israeli PM Netanyahu “attributed the trend to stricter security measures taken to thwart attacks.”
Yet the FT came up with this accompanying headline:
The article itself is factually correct, but the headline gives a very different impression to the reality of who has been perpetrating the attacks. Shouldn’t these “Israel attacks” actually be Palestinian attacks?
This has all too often been the case during the wave of Palestinian stabbings, shootings and car-rammings, where headlines have absolved Palestinians and portrayed Israelis as the aggressors, when it is, in fact, the opposite. A good article doesn’t justify a misleading headline, especially since the headline is often seen by readers who may not even click on the article itself.
We have contacted the Financial Times to request a change to the headline. Watch this space.
