This UK Newspaper's Front Cover Is A Moving Statement Against ISIS Propaganda
Instead of any photos of Henning or clips from the propaganda video of his death released by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), the Independent chose a black background with a simple message:
"On Friday a decent, caring human being was murdered in cold blood. Our thoughts are with his family," it reads. "He was killed, on camera, for the sole purpose of propaganda. Here is the news, not the propaganda."
Henning was the fourth westerner beheaded by the militant group, which has made a land grab in Iraq and Syria.
The killing was condemned by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama, and ignited a fury against ISIS within the British Muslim community, especially since the video's release came so close to the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, according to The Guardian.
"Everybody is sickened by this," Julie Siddiqui, former head of the Islamic Society of Britain, told the paper. "Why did they decide to announce it when they did? Some of us, naively, thought Alan might even have been released on Friday. They chose a day of reflection, when many were thinking of peace forgiveness, thinking about others. There is a genuine feeling that they did it deliberately, it seems too much of a coincidence."
At the end of the video of Alan Henning's death, the executioner closes with a threat against the life an American named Peter Kassig, a former US Army Ranger who was abducted on Oct. 1, 2013 while working to provide medical support with a humanitarian group he founded.
Here is the cover:
