A BBC report published on Tuesday on the killing of a disabled Palestinian man by Israel has drawn intense backlash, following what activists described as a “misleading headline” and “dehumanisation of Palestinians” amid the war in Gaza.
The British public broadcaster’s news website initially ran the story with the headline “The lonely death of Gaza man with Down’s syndrome” — omitting mention of the fact that 24-year-old Muhammad Bhar was left to die by the Israeli army after a combat dog was violently set on him.
In the report, written by veteran Irish journalist Fergal Keane, the attack was not mentioned until the 16th paragraph — almost halfway through the piece.
Partly business – Israel and the UK have multi-billion £ trade agreements, and partly political – the UK has long followed Washington when it comes to foreign policy.
US soft-power reach is pretty overwhelming, I guess.
I’ve lived in a couple of countries in Europe.
The UK is by far the one that most apes the US and you could even say that at least the English (there are more Brits than just the English, but they’re the majority by far) who tend to see themselves as more important than everybody else, don’t think that when it comes to Americans.
And if you look at which countries follows the US into their wars of agression, Britain is always number 1 on the list.
All this to say that US soft-power is far less effective in the rest of Europe than in Britain, which way more open to American influence and far less critical of it than the rest.