Israel/Palestine
Showing Original Post only (View all)A Chinese Life Is Worth Less Than a Middle Eastern Life [View all]
Imagine the international uproar if 100 young Palestinian Arabs burnt themselves to death while demanding Israel return land to the Arabs? Not 100 at once, but one by one, one could envision the topic dominating world headlines. Coverage of funerals, visuals of their families and undoubtedly wed see pundit after pundit pontificating on the need to understand their frustrations.
Meanwhile, in Nepal, 100 Tibetans have burnt themselves to death to protest Chinese rule of Tibet and it has largely been ignored by the media. No calls for China to give in to Tibet because of the poor oppressed Tibetian people no U.N. peace force, and little media coverage. In December 2010, a Tunisian fruit-vendor set himself on fire, and media coverage of subsequent Arab riots and the Arab spring fueled global headlines for months on end. Despite the fact that China is a world power, the Middle East is more interesting to the media, and for the media seemingly a Chinese life is worth less than a Middle Eastern one.
In the media coverage we do see, one doesnt see China blamed for the decision of the Tibetans to kill themselves, even since the 2008 Beijing Olympics where there were demonstrations about these issues. The Government of China has monks in re-education campaigns that involve arrests, beatings, and worse. The freedom of religion of these monks is under assault as is democracy in China. Yet, one wont read about these things in the media, and its rare to find stories holding China accountable for these suicides which are being committed.
Contrast that to Middle Eastern media coverage where theres a regular villain. While suicide bombers harm many people, media outlets often refers to them as militants rather than terrorists. When a young Tibetan monk burns himself to death it barely registers.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/02/21/a-chinese-life-is-worth-less-than-a-middle-eastern-life/