Al Jazeera Discovers Protests, Forgets Similar U.S. Reactions
The story details Khamenei's warnings against 'foreign enemies' influencing protests and his threats of crackdown. This, we’re told, signals Tehran's weakening grip. Yet, when U.S. administrations deploy federal agents against Black Lives Matter protesters or use National Guard against climate activists, it's often framed as maintaining 'law and order,' not a sign of struggling control. One might
recall former President Trump's threats to deploy military to quell protests in 2020 which were met with significant media support in some quarters while condemned in others. It appears certain 'lash outs' are more newsworthy than others. The media’s outrage over Khamenei's authoritarian impulses seems to conveniently bypass their own governments' well-documented records of surveilling, arresting,
and forcibly dispersing dissenters. How many 'foreign enemies' were blamed when Occupy Wall Street camps were dismantled across America? The mirror, it seems, only works one way for international news desks.