Washington Post blasted for distorting Israel-Hezbollah escalation on front page
'Democracy Dies in Darkness' paper published editor’s note after backlash
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Washington Post added an editor's note after facing intense backlash for distorting the latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah with a front page frame portraying the Jewish state as the aggressor.
The Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon launched its deadliest assault against Israel since the Oct. 7 attack in the northern town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday, resulting in at least 12 dead and dozens injured, all of them children and teens who were playing on a soccer field.
On Monday's cover, The Post featured a large image of Israelis mourning the death of 11-year-old Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, underneath the image, The Post ran the headline "Israel Hits Targets In Lebanon," referring to Israel's retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah that occurred Sunday.
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The Washington Post used an image of an Israeli victim from Saturday's Hezbollah attack with the headline "Israel hits targets in Lebanon." (Screenshot/The Washington Post)
The front page quickly went viral, sparking condemnation of the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" paper.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The front-page image of today’s Washington Post is that of a child murdered by Hezbollah. Yet the front-page headline—'Israel Hits Targets In Lebanon'—portrays Israel, not Hezbollah, as the aggressor," Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., reacted on X.
"It’s sad to see a paper that was once the caliber of the Washington Post reduced to this," Ruthless podcast host John Ashbrook also wrote on X.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If you saw this photo and read the headline, you'd naturally think that Israel was responsible for the death of 12 innocent Druze children on a soccer field," Newsweek contributor Joel M. Petlin said.
"Israel is fighting a 2 front war - not against Hamas & Hezbollah, but against terrorists and the biased US media," Petlin added.
Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties from a site where a strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
The paper published an editor’s note on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The headline and subheadline that accompanied a July 29 Page One photo and article about Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon did not provide adequate context. The headlines should have noted that the Israeli strikes were a response to a rocket strike from Lebanon that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The photo depicted mourning for one of those victims, as the caption noted," Post editors wrote.
The Post's front page even caught the attention of the IDF.
"You can see grieving family members burying children murdered by Hezbollah in the Madjal Shams massacre," the IDF wrote on X. "If by chance you understood anything else from their headline, you might not be the problem."
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