British Hostage Alan Henning Beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS)

British cab driver Alan Henning traveled to Syria to help the impoverished victims of the civil war. In return for his selfless generosity, he was kidnapped and beheaded.

Western governments, as usual, will respond by defending Islam against criticism.

Alan Henning with his beheader

(CNN)—A short video released by ISIS on Friday shows the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning. In the same video, the terror group threatened the life of an American aid worker.

A taxi driver from near Manchester, England, Alan Henning was part of a team of volunteers that traveled to Syria in December 2013 to deliver food and water to people affected by the Middle Eastern country's devastating civil war.

He was abducted the day after Christmas by masked gunmen, according to other people in the aid convoy. Last week, the British Foreign Office released an audio file of Henning pleading for his life. His wife made a public plea for ISIS to spare his life.

Barbara Henning's pleas were joined by voices of Muslim leaders around the world.

They included Shaykh Haitham Al Haddad, a judge on the Shariah Council in London, who has said that "whatever your grievance with American or British foreign policy, executing this man is not the answer."

But the calls for mercy appear to have been met with bloodshed. If the authenticity of the video is confirmed, Henning will be the fourth Westerner to be beheaded on camera by ISIS. (Continue Reading.)

To understand the Islamic State's treatment of non-Muslims, watch this: