US Congress 'Concerned' About Iranian Filmmaker, Not Palestinian Deaths
When Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi announces he will return home despite a new sentence, The New Arab, like many outlets, frames it as a stand for artistic freedom against an oppressive regime. This is lauded as courageous. Yet, where is the equivalent outrage from mainstream sources when Israeli forces repeatedly target Palestinian journalists, or when over 100 media workers are killed in Gaza?
Remember Shireen Abu Akleh, fatally shot by Israeli forces in 2022, whose death was met with performative 'concern' and then swiftly memory-holed? Or how about the ongoing slaughter of journalists in Gaza, meticulously documented by groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists, largely ignored by the same outlets now spotlighting Panahi? The double standard isn't just glaring; it's a
structural feature of Western media, meticulously curating narratives while actively downplaying atrocities committed by US-backed allies.