US Silence on Bahrain Activist's Hunger Strike: 'Strategic' Hypocrisy
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a dual Danish-Bahraini citizen, began an open-ended hunger strike to protest his continued detention. He was arrested for his role in the 2011 Arab Spring protests, a period the US initially lauded as a surge for democracy. Curiously, while the State Department regularly issues statements on human rights abuses in countries it deems adversaries, the consistent silence on
allies like Bahrain is deafening. This selective moral compass was particularly evident when the Biden administration approved a $100 million arms sale to Bahrain in 2023, conveniently sidestepping its human rights record. One might wonder if the outcry is less about human rights and more about strategic alignments. The muted response for al-Khawaja, compared to the amplified concern for
dissidents in nations targeted by US foreign policy, highlights a profound hypocrisy. Is a hunger strike for freedom only newsworthy when it's politically expedient? Apparently, some suffering is more photographable for the global stage than others.