JERUSALEM (AP) — After weeks of nonstop coverage of destruction and death in the Gaza Strip, media across the Middle East are focusing on demonstrations roiling American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.
For some, the protests and heavy-handed police crackdowns on them represent the double standards of life in the United States, which routinely asks countries to respect freedom of dissent and speech. There are some too. However, demonstrations of any kind remain illegal in most parts of the Middle East, as many countries face war, economic hardship, or other widespread unrest.
The reports included breathless coverage from Iranian state television, which aired live footage of the protests and police actions. Even soccer commentators brought up the issue during games, with one analyst later describing it as the “death of liberal democracy”.
One news program began by saying, “Protests by pro-Palestinian students have spread to more than 200 universities as the full-scale crackdown by the police continues,” and also reported the number of arrests.
Iranian coverage of U.S. student protests comes even as state television largely ignores massive demonstrations over the death of Martha Amini in 2022 that left more than 500 people dead and 22,000 detained. It was done regardless.
Iran’s hard-line newspaper Kayhan, which regularly calls for the destruction of both the US and Israel, uses the student protests in the US to claim that Iranian security services sexually assaulted and killed a 16-year-old girl on BBC News attempted to undermine the credibility of the report. Amini demo in progress.
“At a time when consciences around the world are protesting the oppression of students in America and other Western countries, and the global outcry against the Israeli regime’s countless crimes is louder than ever, the BBC World Service “It was an act of suicide to publish such a ridiculous report,” the paper said.
Israel’s usually unruly press freedom has largely rallied behind the war in Gaza, and footage of US protests has sparked fears that public opinion is turning against Israel. Many commentators have dismissed the protests as anti-Semitic, a charge rejected by protest leaders.
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Israel’s public broadcaster Kan repeatedly aired footage of the US protests on Wednesday, with some calling on Israel to open its doors to Jewish academics and students who feel unsafe in the US.
“As anti-Semitic demonstrations calling for the destruction of Israel rage on campuses around the world, the Council for Higher Education must take a decision to encourage Israeli academic institutions to actively accept Jewish students from abroad. “No,” writes professor emeritus Peretz Ravi. Former president of the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
Orli Azulai, Washington bureau chief for the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronos, offered a different perspective.
“Israeli people are not able to see the demonstrations properly because they are not always shown correctly and it is easier not to see them,” she wrote. “The same goes for the children dying in Gaza, the hunger, the lack of medicine, and the destruction that has made the Strip overwhelmingly uninhabitable.”
He added: “We must not allow the extremists on both sides to win. There is no other choice. We must learn how to live together.”
Meanwhile, thousands of people are protesting weekly in Israel, demanding the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip and the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the Gaza Strip itself, some Palestinian demonstrators waved placards thanking American universities, and at least one man spray-painted a thank you note on the side of a tent.
Protests and political party activities are illegal in the hereditary United Arab Emirates, but a newspaper cartoon depicts a silhouette of a police van parading in a police van with an American flag on the side. Images of university graduates were posted. Neighboring Saudi Arabia’s state-run media largely stayed away from the news, instead reporting that its universities would begin recruiting students for next year.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper published an op-ed by lawyer Rafia Zakaria suggesting that the student movement “could succeed in ushering in a new era in U.S. foreign policy.”
“For a long time, American foreign policy prided itself on its ruthless realpolitik, but its architect Henry Kissinger died last November,” she wrote in an article published Wednesday. . The rest of the world will last for decades. ”
The demonstrations were also broadcast on Afghanistan’s state television, which is currently overseen by the Taliban-controlled government.
“These protesters raised slogans against the attacks and genocide of the Zionist regime,” Afghan broadcaster Radio Television said.
Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network, which has focused extensively on the Israel-Hamas war and witnessed the injury and killing of its correspondents in the Gaza Strip, says on its website that “our democracy is at risk” in the United States. He cited people’s warnings extensively. Qatar is also a hereditary emirate.
The channel also provided context for a banner held by protesters who occupied Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, renaming the building “Hinde Hall.” This comes after five-year-old Hind Rajab received international attention after he rushed to emergency services before dying in Gaza.
Al Jazeera, an English-language broadcaster, broadcast live from New York and North Carolina, showing the extent of the student demonstrations.
“It was just a disaster,” said a Duke University protester who gave her name as Abigail, speaking live from the nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We were all treated really badly by the police.”
Abigail, who wore a Palestinian black and white keffiyeh scarf during the broadcast, added: “I would like to speak directly to the Palestinian people, to the people of Gaza, if possible, to say that just because this encampment was demolished yesterday does not mean that this is over.” “
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For more AP coverage of Israel and Hamas, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
John Gambrell, Associated Press
