The Greatest Human Rights Scam of Our Time

When people only care about human rights violations that fit their politics, they don’t truly care about human rights; they care about their politics.

photo: Christian Lue/Unsplash

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This is a guest essay by Mitch Schneider, who writes about Israel, from Israel.

You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.

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Maybe it was reading The New York Times describe protests against Iran’s theocratic regime as “economic unrest” on day 14 — while protesters were being shot in the streets.

Maybe it was watching emergency United Nations sessions on Gaza happen within weeks of October 7th, while there has still yet to be one about the rapidly escalating violence teetering on a domestic war in Iran.

Maybe it was realizing that campus “activists” who mobilized within hours of the October 7th attacks and sustained encampments for months have been completely silent while Iran commits every violation they claim to oppose.

Actually, I can pinpoint it exactly.

It was October 17, 2023 at 2:09 pm when The New York Times published an unverified Hamas claim that Israel had bombed Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing 500 people. Front page. Within hours of the claim. No verification. Just Hamas’ word.

Six days later, after U.S. intelligence assessed the death toll at 100-to-300 (likely on the low end, with some European intelligence sources estimating as few as 50), and evidence showed it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, The New York Times published an editor’s note admitting they had “relied too heavily on claims by Hamas.”

That’s when I knew something was very wrong. Not wrong like a mistake. Wrong like I’m watching the media, the UN, and campus “activists” reveal who they actually are.

Let me be precise about what happened at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. Hamas claimed 500 dead. The New York Times ran it. Massive headline. International outrage. Protests in multiple countries. Within hours. The actual death toll was somewhere between 50 and 300, likely on the lower end. The rocket was Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s, not Israel’s. The New York Times admitted they got it wrong.

But here’s the thing: They learned their lesson, just in one direction. After Al-Ahli Arab, The New York Times became more careful about unverified claims from Gaza. Good. That’s what journalists should do.

Now let’s look at Iran.

Protests started on December 28, 2025. By January 8th, the regime had cut internet access across the country. NetBlocks, the organization that monitors global internet freedom, confirmed the blackout that evening around 8:30 pm local time. That’s the regime trying to hide what they’re doing.

And it worked. Because while the internet was down, people were dying.

A doctor inside Iran risked execution to get information out to TIME magazine. Think about that for a second. A doctor. In a country where the attorney general is threatening to execute “enemies of God.” This person is counting bodies and finding ways to communicate with the outside world, knowing that if they’re caught, they’re dead.

That doctor verified at least 217 deaths.

According to some reports, Iran’s security forces aren’t just shooting in the streets. They’re storming hospitals, deploying tear gas in emergency rooms, beating medical staff, and dragging injured protesters from hospital beds to finish what they started outside.

The New York Times had published earlier pieces framing this as Iranian leadership in “survival mode” and “economic unrest.” But their first coverage treating this as what it actually was, a massacre, came on January 10th, day 14.

Wait, the regime cutting internet and shooting protesters is “under pressure”? That’s the framing?

Compare that to Al-Ahli Arab: two to three hours from claim to front page headline. Fourteen days from a doctor risking execution to report deaths to finally acknowledging a massacre. This isn’t a mistake. This is a pattern.

The Washington Post, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, and many other mainstream outlets all followed the same script. Minimal coverage. “Economic protests.” Vague death tolls. No front pages. No emergency alerts. No massive international outcry.

The UN General Assembly held emergency sessions on Gaza on October 26 and 27, 2023, and again on December 12, 2023, with multiple sessions following in 2024. Within weeks of October 7th, the international community was mobilized.

For Iran? The UN Secretary-General issued a statement on January 5th, nine days after protests started. “Deeply saddened.” That’s it. No emergency session. No international mobilization. Just sadness.

Campus “activists” set up encampments major Western universities within weeks of October 7th and sustained them for months. They disrupted classes, occupied buildings, demanded divestment. All in response to Gaza. Those same “activists” have been completely silent on Iran. Not a single encampment. Not a single disruption. Not a single demand. Iran is committing every violation they claim to care about. Extrajudicial killings. Targeting civilians. Cutting communications to hide evidence. Threatening execution for political dissent. And the “activists” who spent weeks in tents over Gaza? Nowhere.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Attorney General didn’t call them criminals or rioters. He calls them “enemies of God” and threatened them with execution.

Let me tell you who these “enemies of God” are. There’s a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head for removing her hijab and demanding freedom. That’s an “enemy of God.” There’s a university student who chanted slogans against the Supreme Leader. “Enemy of God.” There’s a father who filmed security forces beating protesters and tried to upload the video before the internet went down. He’s dead now. “Enemy of God.”

And there’s that doctor, still inside Iran, still counting bodies, still finding ways to get information out. If they’re caught, they’ll be declared an “enemy of God” too.

These aren’t soldiers. They’re not armed. They’re students, doctors, fathers, daughters. People who want to live in a country where you don’t get executed for disagreeing with the government. The regime calls them “enemies of God” because that’s what theocracies do when they can’t defend themselves on merit. They declare dissent to be theological heresy deserving of death. That’s not a legal system; that’s medieval brutality with paperwork.

But, nonetheless, much of the media coverage is about “economic unrest.”

I’m not a lawyer, but I can read. The Rome Statute, which defines crimes against humanity, includes this language:

• “Murder committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.” — That’s 217 verified deaths, reported by a doctor risking execution. And counting.

• “Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering.” — That’s the internet blackout to prevent evidence from getting out.

• “Persecution against any identifiable group on political grounds.” — That’s the Attorney General declaring protesters to be “enemies of God” deserving of execution.

What’s happening in Iran meets the definition. It’s documented. It’s verified by people risking their lives to report it. It’s ongoing. And the coverage is about “economic unrest.”

Women are leading the protests in Iran — students, young professionals, mothers. They’re burning hijabs, cutting their hair, chanting “Death to the Dictator,” and refusing to accept a government that executes women for showing their hair. Akram Pirgazi was a mother of two. She went to her textile classes at Shariaty College and then joined the protests, reportedly full of optimism and joy. Security forces shot her at close range in the back of the head. She was the first woman killed in this crackdown. Saghar Etemadi is 22. She was shot in the head with pellet guns during protests in Farsan. She’s in the hospital now, fighting for her life.

So let me ask a simple question: How fast does UN Women actually move when women are in crisis? Turns out it depends on which women. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and deliberately raped women, murdered mothers in front of children, and dragged women into tunnels as hostages. The evidence is overwhelming from the start. Six days later, UN Women finally issued a statement condemning “attacks on civilians” and then immediately focused on “the devastating impact on civilians including women and girls” in Gaza.

Nearly three weeks into the Iranian protests, UN Women hasn’t said a single word. Meanwhile, the organization has found time in the past month to post about gender-responsive climate finance, women’s economic empowerment initiatives, and the importance of women in peace processes. All important issues. But Iranian women are being shot in the streets for demanding basic human rights, and UN Women can’t find its voice.

There are three possible explanations for this discrepancy.

Maybe they’re incompetent. They genuinely didn’t know what was happening in Iran. They missed the doctor reports, the internet blackout, the Attorney General’s threats, the 217 verified deaths. I don’t buy this. These are sophisticated organizations with resources in the region. They know.

Maybe they’re complicit. They knew what was happening but chose to minimize it because it didn’t fit the narrative they wanted to tell. This seems closer to the truth, but it’s incomplete.

Or maybe they’re compromised. They’re protecting access or sources or relationships. They’re worried about losing credentials, losing sources, losing the ability to operate.

Probably all three. Maybe something else entirely.

But there’s a fourth option people will offer: institutional inertia. Big organizations move slowly. Verification takes time. Editorial processes are complex. Sure. Except that doesn’t explain two to three hours for unverified Hamas claims versus 14 days for a doctor risking execution to report verified deaths from Iran.

Institutional inertia doesn’t explain emergency UN sessions for Gaza within weeks versus a “deeply saddened” statement nine days late for Iran. Institutional inertia doesn’t explain encampments sustained for weeks over Gaza versus complete silence on Iran. The momentum only flows in one direction.

Here’s what I want to know: What made Hamas’ unverified claim worth publishing in two hours while a doctor inside Iran risking execution to report deaths took 14 days to get treated as a massacre? What changed between October 17, 2023, and January 10, 2026?

What number of deaths triggers a UN emergency session? Is it the number itself, or does it depend on who’s doing the killing?

Campus “activists” mobilized within days for Gaza. Where are the tents now?

UN Women seems to be on the frontlines whenever and wherever women are in danger — until said danger conflicts with UN Women’s agenda. What qualifies women to be heard, seen, and protected by UN Women?

Right now, the only logical conclusion is that the coverage, the outrage, and the “activism” aren’t about human rights at all. They’re about politics. When people only care about human rights violations that fit their politics, they don’t truly care about human rights; they care about their politics.

The New York Times verifies claims, just not for everyone. The UN holds emergency sessions, just not for everyone. Campus “activists” mobilize and sustain pressure for months, just not for everyone. That selectivity reveals everything.

There’s a doctor in Iran right now, risking execution to count bodies and report what’s happening. There’s a 19-year-old woman shot in the head for demanding freedom. There’s a father killed for filming security forces. They’re all “enemies of God” according to the regime massacring them.

And the media calls it “economic unrest.” The UN issues a statement about sadness. The “activists” stay silent. Civilians dying in Iran’s streets right now are watching to see who actually cares about human rights, and who just cares about their politics.

I already know the answer. I’m just waiting for everyone else to admit it.

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