There is a strange moral blindness spreading across the West.

The loudest voices claiming to defend “human rights” seem able to see only one alleged crime in the entire Middle East, and it always belongs to Israel. When Israel defends itself against terrorists who openly vow to repeat the Holocaust, these critics rush forward with accusations of atrocities and genocide. Yet when Iran shoots protesters in the face to blind them, tortures and rapes women in Evin Prison, executes dissidents by the thousands, and brutalizes its own people, these same voices are nowhere to be found.

This silence is not confusion or ignorance. It is selective outrage. And it exposes the fraud at the heart of today’s so-called human rights movement.

Israel’s critics seize on any accusation, no matter how false, that can be used to incite hatred against the Jewish state. But when genuine crimes against humanity are committed by regimes like Iran, their moral concern suddenly disappears. Their silence speaks volumes, and the court of public opinion is entitled to draw the obvious conclusions.

Who Is Working Second Jobs for State Sponsors of Terrorism?

Some of these critics may even be on Iran’s or Qatar’s payroll, potentially in violation of the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act if they are attempting to influence American policy. Many U.S. universities are awash in Qatari money, and it is reasonable to ask what Qatar expects in return.

I will not accuse any individual or organization without evidence. But it is reasonable to infer that some, not all or even many, but some activists are promoting the interests of state sponsors of terrorism. As Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.” In other words, those whom the shoe fits may wear it.

IranWire reports that a letter sent by 160 lawyers to U.S. authorities alleges that officials of South Africa’s African National Congress received bribes from Iran to accuse Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Given the ANC’s own history of political violence, including “necklacing” opponents, such cooperation comes as no surprise.

The BBC’s Parham Ghobadi reports that Instagram moderators say Iran offered them bribes to remove accounts. The New York Times has reported on a bribery scandal in the European Parliament involving Qatari cash. Senator Chuck Grassley has questioned why Qatari-backed media outlets have still not registered under U.S. foreign agent laws. Caplin & Drysdale reports that a former U.S. ambassador pled guilty to ethics violations connected to representing Qatar.

The bottom line is simple. Iranian and Qatari money is flowing widely, and these regimes are getting their money’s worth from someone. While Qatar is not officially designated a state sponsor of terrorism, its support for Hamas speaks for itself.

Where’s Greta?

The children’s books Where’s Waldo? challenged readers to find a conspicuous figure hiding in plain sight. A similar question applies to today’s most celebrated activists.

Greta Thunberg has spoken loudly about climate change and has condemned Israel, even participating in the Gaza flotilla. Yet a search of her statements reveals no condemnation of Iran’s lethal violence against its own people, including torture and rape in Evin Prison. According to Google AI, there is no evidence she has spoken out against the Iranian regime.

Why does Greta not use her global platform to confront the ayatollahs? Iranians themselves are doing so, and many are paying with their lives. My hope is that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu take decisive action to weaken Iran’s command structure so its people can reclaim their country. History shows that dictators hiding in bunkers tend to follow their propaganda with a bullet or a vial of cyanide.

Roger Waters: Wish You Weren’t Here

Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide. According to the Anti-Defamation League, he justified Hamas’s October 7 attack and denied the group’s atrocities. His own song The Fletcher Memorial Home equates Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher with Adolf Hitler and even suggests a “Final Solution” for political leaders.

Waters lost his father in World War II, but he either does not understand or deliberately ignores the fact that Adolf Hitler, not Winston Churchill, caused that war.

When it comes to Iran’s crimes against humanity, Waters offers excuses, blaming Western intelligence agencies for unrest. He has also minimized Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, claiming Moscow does not run an apartheid state, despite evidence of war crimes eerily similar to those committed by Hamas.

This selective morality says everything that needs to be said.

Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinians, has devoted extraordinary effort to accusing Israel of genocide. The Times of Israel reports that she has been sued in federal court for allegedly making defamatory claims against nonprofit organizations.

Yet when it comes to Iran’s mass killing of its own people, she remains silent. Google AI reports no public condemnation from Albanese of Iran’s abuses. Her fixation on Israel, paired with her silence on genuine crimes against humanity, speaks for itself.

The International Kangaroo Court

The International Criminal Court bent over backward to fabricate charges against Prime Minister Netanyahu, even though Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute. Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader openly admitted on social media in June 2025 that Iranian forces targeted civilian sites in Israel, a clear violation of the same statute.

The ICC is aware of this admission and has taken no action. Its defenders cannot argue jurisdictional limitations when those limitations did not prevent it from pursuing Israel. This hypocrisy alone is reason enough for Rome Statute signatories to reconsider their participation and bar ICC personnel from entry.

“See no Iranian democide, hear no Iranian democide, speak no Iranian democide” tells the whole story.

The court of public opinion is well within its rights to conclude that these organizations’ concern for human rights ends wherever Israel begins and wherever tyrants rule. Their outrage is not about justice. It is about targeting the Jewish state while excusing those who commit real and documented atrocities.

Bill Levinson is the author of numerous articles and books and a longtime student of history and psychological warfare.