Letter to The Washington Post followed by their response

From: Dr. Michael Berenhaus [mailto:mberenhaus@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 11:41 AM
To: letters@washpost.com: 'ombudsman@washpost.com'
Subject: Washington Post title not neutral

Dear Editors,

On November 2nd , 2006, The Washington Post published an article and titled it “Israeli Troops Spark Clashes In Gaza Strip.” The article, however, states that “the raid was designed to root out stockpiles of crude Palestinian rockets…and the men who fire them into southern Israel.” This leads credence to the view that the Israeli raid was a defensive raid in response to Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel undertaken in an attempt to stop them from re-occurring. So what event really sparked the clash? The rocket attacks or the Israeli counter measures? That depends on which view is taken. The Israeli view is that the Palestinians firing rockets at civilians in Israel sparked the clash – after all, the Israelis do have a right to protect their citizens. The Palestinian view is that the Israeli troops sparked the clashes. The title that was given to this article indicates that the view taken by the The Washington Post appears to be equivalent to the Palestinian point of view. Moreover, is it fair to say that the one that hits back after being hit is the one that sparked the fight?

Sincerely,

Michael Berenhaus



-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah C Howell
On Behalf Of Ombudsman Internet DropBox
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 4:08 PM
To: Dr. Michael Berenhaus
Subject: Re: Washington Post title not neutral

I got a number of complaints about that headline and have talked to the
editors about it.

Deborah Howell
Washington Post Ombudsman