Inventing Reality

It might be objectively moral, but people simply don't accept or realise that Israel is, objectively, genociding kids - that's one way the controversy comes into it. Yeah those people are living under a rock, but it does mean that Rachel publically denouncing Israel, and how she chooses to do so (using her platform of the kids show), can make some people go "irk!"

I do not think the guardian is injecting their own opinion in here and I don't think it helps at all for them to avoid that in their headline. I presume you think they should say "here is our interview with Ms Rachel the absolute saint our holy martyr of the Palestinian children " but that's like... less balanced? Also people know about her because she is controversial and just saying "Ms Rachel the Controversial" saves print space while also signalling to people who like her "it's the tv woman you like!" And to people who don't, "it's the TV woman you don't like!"

Part of the reason of platforming her is the possibility of some readers realising they like her more than they thought. But those readers will not read the article if it approaches from the standpoint of "she's already perfect and objectively correct' - you get no convincing done that way, and the same applies for the Palestine issue in general.