horrifying if true

Ynet News is reporting that the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been executed “by an al-Qaeda affilated Palestinian organization.” Ynet says the news comes from “an internet statement obtained by Ynetnews.”

In the message, the group said the British and Palestinian governments were responsible for Johnston’s killing, and vowed to release a video of the execution.

“The whole world knows of our just cause in demanding the release of our prisoners, who are waiting under the fire of the occupation,” the statement began. “Our demand was that all of those who are responsible for the journalist… release our prisoners who are being held in the prisons of the occupation,” it continued.

“The whole world made so much noise about this foreign journalist, while it took no action over our thousands of prisoners,” the declaration said.

“Our objective was to broadcast a clear message, and we were surprised by the position of the Palestinian Authority, which attempted to hide the case as much as it could and to present the case in an untruthful manner, leading us unfortunately to kill the journalist so that our message is understood,” the declaration continued.

According to the Ynet report, the BBC is aware of the internet report but has no independent confirmation.

I hope fervently that it’s not true, but I fear it is. And if so, we may have entered a new phase of the Terrorists’ War Against Us.