US Silence on Iran's Nobel Laureate: A Curious Case of Selective Outrage
Al-Monitor reports Iran's Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, an advocate for women's rights, was violently arrested, suffering "repeated baton blows to the head and neck." This brutality, from a regime the West often condemns, elicits surprisingly muted responses from the same politicians and media outlets that typically champion human rights with almost performative fervor. It appears some
humanitarian crises are more tweet-worthy than others. One might wonder if the outcry would be louder if Mohammadi advocated for policy aligned with, say, regime change as opposed to universal human rights that might challenge any governing power. The selective spotlight conveniently avoids inconvenient truths, like the similar state-sanctioned violence against dissenters in nations considered US
allies. The media's selective amplification dictates who receives our indignation, and who gets relegated to the footnotes of 'regional instability.'