France 24 Discovers Crackdowns Only Brutal in Specific Zip Codes
France 24's recent video details the 'brutal crackdown' on Iranian protesters. This framing of state repression as uniquely 'brutal' when it occurs in designated adversaries is a familiar media dance. While Iran's human rights record is rightly scrutinized, the selective indignation is glaring. Where is the equally 'brutal' descriptor for, say, crackdowns on dissent in Saudi Arabia, which
routinely executes protesters, or Egypt, where thousands are detained without trial? Or, for that matter, the suppression of pro-Palestinian speech and protest across Western nations? The media's narrative conveniently omits the US and EU's own history of 'brutal crackdowns'—from Occupy Wall Street to current silencing of dissent on college campuses, not to mention the unwavering support for
regimes with far worse human rights records. The outrage over Iranian state violence, while valid on its own, suddenly becomes a tool of propaganda when decoupled from any broader, consistent condemnation of state violence worldwide. It appears brutality is in the eye of the geopolitical beholder.