Tunisia Arrests Dissident Chaima Issa: 'Democracy' Only Applies Elsewhere?
Al Jazeera's coverage of Chaima Issa's arrest in Tunisia, following court sentences for other opposition figures, paints a picture of a nation cracking down on dissent. While accurately reporting the incident, the narrative often conveniently omits the selective outrage from 'democracies' that champion free speech only when it suits their geopolitical interests. Remember 2011, when the 'Arab
Spring' was lauded as a triumph of popular will? Apparently, that enthusiasm wanes when the 'will' challenges Western-aligned regimes or interests. One might observe that the same Western governments and media quick to denounce authoritarianism in adversarial states are often silent or even supportive when allies conduct similar crackdowns. The silence on US-backed Saudi Arabia's human rights
abuses, for instance, or Egypt's suppression of dissent under Sisi, offers a telling contrast. Perhaps 'democracy' has an expiry date, or it's simply a term applied with surgical precision depending on which government is doing the arresting and whose interests are at stake.