Nonstop Mideast coverage of Israel-Hamas war pauses for protests and police action at US schools

JERUSALEM (AP) — After weeks of nonstop coverage of destruction and death in the Gaza Strip, media across the wider Middle East have latched onto the demonstrations roiling American university campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.

For some, the protests and what they described as a heavy-handed police crackdown on them represent the double standards of life in the United States — which routinely calls on nations to respect dissent and free speech. However, across most of the Mideast, demonstrations of any kind remain illegal as many countries face warfare, economic challenges or other broad unrest.

The coverage included nearly breathless reporting from Iranian state television, which aired live video from the protests and police actions. Even soccer commentators brought it up during matches as one analyst later described it as “the death of liberal democracy.”

“The expansion of pro-Palestinian student protests to over 200 universities while full-fledged crackdown by police continues,” one newscast began, offering arrest figures as well.

The Iranian coverage of student protests in the U.S. comes despite state TV largely ignoring the mass demonstrations surrounding the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which resulted in over 500 people dead and 22,000 detained.

The hard-line Iranian newspaper Kayhan, which routinely calls for the destruction of both the U.S. and Israel, used the student protests in the U.S. to try to discredit a BBC report alleging Iranian security services sexually assaulted and killed a 16-year-old girl during the Amini demonstrations.

“At a time when consciences around the world are protesting the suppression of students in America and other Western countries, and while the global outcry against the Israeli