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.”