British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), known for its support of Israeli war crimes, is yet again under fire for a misleading headline that portrayed the killing of a Palestinian man with Down’s Syndrome as a “lonely death”.” In contrast, he died after being attacked by a dog trained by the Israeli Defence Forces.
The details of the report outline Mohammed Bhar’s killing. His mother told BBC that he was left to die by Israeli soldiers after being brutally attacked by the IDF’s dog. His parents later found his decomposed body on the street.
However, the caption on X said, “The lonely death of Gaza man with Down’s Syndrome.”
Netizens lambasted the choice of words, morphing the whole incident into a mere lonely death instead of a murder.
A user quoted Middle East Eye for its appropriate headline, saying, “Gaza: Palestinian with Down syndrome ‘left to die ‘ by Israeli soldiers after combat dog attack.” The tweet read, “This is the headline a real news organisation would write. Why would you try to sanitise a brutal attack on a disabled man?”
Another user stressed that BBC is not a credible source anymore because it avoids at all cost to hold Israel accountable. “An embarrassment for a national broadcaster,” he asserted.
This is not a lonely death; it is a violent murder, another user emphasized.
“You mean he was separated from his family, deliberately mauled by an IDF attack dog within earshot of them and left to die. His parents found his decomposing body later. That’s called murder,” a user named Natalie Holme Elsberg tweeted.
In one of the responses, BBC was criticised for the choice of words. “Lonely? Strange adjective to describe the death of someone who was murdered by an armed gang.”
