After weeks of nonstop coverage of destruction and death across the Gaza Strip, media across the wider Middle East has latched onto the demonstrations roiling American university campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. For some, the protests and what they describe 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 the swath of the Mideast, demonstrations of any kind remain illegal as many countries face warfare, economic challenges or other broad unrest.
