The Newspaper award for the most scrupulously neutral, impartial, unbiased headline.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/17/israel-gaza-war-babies-families/

... goes to the Washington Post this week for entitling its article "Israel's war in Gaza separates Palestinian babies from their mothers." 😉

Don’t all wars separate some people who are caught between two belligerents? People traveling abroad can’t get home during wartime. Nor can students studying in other countries. Nor can patients receiving medical treatment in foreign lands. So, yes, it follows, due to the nature of war, that Palestinian babies receiving life-saving medical care in Israeli or Palestinian hospitals will likely have to remain in those hospitals until the end of open hostilities between the IDF and Hamas. Is that unfortunate? Yes, it is. Is it tragic? According to a nurse in a Nablus hospital, “To be separated like that… it’s a terrible thing.” But it’s also a temporary thing, unlike Hamas killing attendees at a rock concert. That was a permanent thing. And it was that permanent thing that has resulted in the regrettable but temporary separation of Gazan Palestinian parents from their children in a Nablus hospital.

It’s only human to sympathize with mothers who are separated from their infants. But the WaPo headline seems to make a point of blaming Israel for this temporary situation. Could the headline have been worded in a way that would not appear to vilify Israel? How might an alternative headline read?

“The war between Israel and Hamas separates Palestinian babies from their mothers”

“The war in Gaza separates Palestinian babies from their mothers”

“Israel’s response to Hamas attack separates Palestinian babies from their mothers”

“The military conflict in Gaza separates Palestinian babies from their mothers”

Any of the above headlines, which the Washington Post could have used, would be less accusatory. One or more WaPo editors made a decision which, intentionally or otherwise, makes a statement which seems to be an anti-Israel accusation.

After all, what non-lethal action could be more blameworthy than separating babies from their mothers?