Double Standards vs. Equity – Human Rights : From Blog Posts to Book
The purpose of “Double Standards vs. Equity – Human Rights” and these blog posts is to combine them into a published book entitled Safe Schools for Jewish Students: An Educator’s Guide to Preventing Antisemitism and Strengthening Belonging.
Go here for the full Table of Contents.
Chapter 4 – Double Standards vs. Equity: Human Rights
Double Standards vs. Equity: Human Rights and Civil Liberties
Here are countries in and around the Middle East and their human rights and civil liberties. Compare them to Israel’s human rights and civil liberties. Which country or countries deserve protests in the US streets? Which countries should World History classes and Ethnic Studies teachers focus on as currently demonstrating an abuse to human rights?
Syria
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized with detention and reports of torture.
Women’s Rights: Severely compromised with systemic wartime abuses.
Free Speech / Assembly: Nearly nonexistent with lethal repression.
Free Press: None. The entire media environment is controlled.
Non-Discrimination: There is sectarian discrimination, discrimination by gender, and political discrimination is widespread.
Religion: There are severe limits with sectarian violence.
Fair Trial: Fair trials are virtually nonexistent.
Movement: Movement is severely restricted due to war and involves checkpoints.
Voting: The elections lack legitimacy.
Yemen
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized with extreme penalties, including torture and execution.
Women’s Rights: Highly restricted. There’s forced marriage and violence is widespread.
Speech / Press / Assembly: All are dangerous. Activists and journalists are killed or detained.
Religion: Sectarian control and discriminatory.
Fair Trial: There’s fragmented justice and minimal due process.
Movement: Movement is restricted by war among armed groups.
Voting: National elections are disrupted since war.
Saudi Arabia
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized with severe punishment.
Women’s Rights: There have been recent reforms — women are now permitted to drive, for example — but guardianship persists.
Speech / Press / Assembly: There’s almost no tolerance for dissent.
Religion: Religion is restricted to state-approved Sunni interpretation.
Fair Trial: Political trials lack due process.
Movement: Historically, movement is very restricted. It’s improving, but it’s still controlled.
Voting: Voting is extremely limited. There is no meaningful national elections.
Iran
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized with extreme penalties.
Women’s Rights: Forced dress codes; systemic gender inequality.
Speech / Press / Assembly: Harsh repression; mass arrests.
Religion: Persecution of minorities (Baha’is, converts).
Fair Trial: Political cases lack due process.
Movement: Travel bans; surveillance.
Voting: Elections heavily controlled by Guardian Council.
Hamas-Run Gaza (Pre-October 7, 2023)
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized, with imprisonment, torture, and/or death.
Women’s Rights: Constrained with patriarchal legal enforcement.
Speech / Press: Any criticism of Hamas is punished.
Assembly: Restricted. Protesters are arrested.
Religion: The Islamist governance restricts plurality.
Fair Trial: There are security courts with weak due process.
Movement: Movement is highly restricted both internally and externally.
Voting: Elections are suspended. Hamas rule de facto.
Egypt
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized through “debauchery” laws.
Women’s Rights: Legally present, but they have weak enforcement.
Speech / Press / Assembly: There’s extensive state control with major arrests.
Religion: Discrimination against Copts and minorities.
Fair Trial: There are mass trials and political detainees.
Movement: Movement is under constant surveillance with arrests of dissidents.
Voting: Elections occur but not free nor competitive.
Algeria
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized.
Women’s Rights: Uneven. Cultural barriers persist with preventing equal rights for women.
Speech: Political criticism is restricted.
Press: There’s some freedom of the press, but it’s monitored.
Assembly: There are crackdowns on the pro-democracy Hirak movement.
Religion: Restrictions on converts and minorities.
Fair Trial: Trials are rife with corruption and politicization.
Voting: While Algeria holds elections, trust is low.
Iraq
LGBTQ+ Rights: Not criminalized but there’s extreme violence.
Women’s Rights: Honor killings against women who are raped, “dishonoring” the family. Other forms of violence persist.
Speech / Press / Assembly: All are dangerous. Militias target activists.
Religion: Sectarian discrimination.
Fair Trial: Corruption in the trials with militia pressure.
Movement: Restricted in conflict zones.
Voting: There are elections, but they are heavily influenced by factions.
Nigeria
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized in the northers states.
Women’s Rights: Women have some protections, yet violence is common.
Speech / Press: Free speech and free press is often threatened by security forces.
Assembly: Assembly is permitted, but crackdowns are common.
Religion: There is sectarian conflict with violence against minorities.
Fair Trial: Corruption is widespread.
Voting: Elections exist, but is marred by violence and fraud.
Morocco
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized.
Women’s Rights: There are moderate protections, though gaps remain.
Speech / Press: Sensitive topics are censored.
Assembly: Allowed but policed.
Religion: Islam is prioritized, and conversion from Islam is discouraged.
Fair Trial: Fair trials exist, but they are politicized.
Voting: Elections have limits on political opposition.
Palestinian Authority Controlled West Bank
LGBTQ+ Rights: There’s a strong stigma against LGBTQ+ rights and no protections.
Women’s Rights: There are legal rights with weak enforcement.
Speech / Press / Assembly: All are restricted and critics are arrested.
Religion: Officially, all religions are allowed.
Fair Trial: The PA’s parts of the West Bank have politicized security courts.
Movement: Movement is constrained by Israeli and PA restrictions.
Voting: Elections are rare but possible under PA.
Lebanon
LGBTQ+ Rights: Criminalized but selectively enforced with social harassment.
Women’s Rights: Women’s rights are limited by sectarian family laws.
Speech / Press: More open than the rest of the Middle East region, but still pressured.
Assembly: Frequent protests are allowed with some crackdowns.
Religion: The religion is pluralistic but unequal by design.
Fair Trial: There is sectarian influence and corruption.
Movement: Mostly free.
Voting: Competitive elections exist.
Turkey
LGBTQ+ Rights: Legal, but activism is suppressed.
Women’s Rights: Currently, women’s rights are backsliding on protections, and domestic violence is high.
Speech / Press: The government applies pressure, makes arrests and close media organizations.
Assembly: Assembly is often suppressed and gay Pride marches are banned.
Religion: Official secularism while minority groups face discrimination.
Fair Trial: the judiciary is heavily politicized.
Movement: Mostly free.
Voting: National elections are still meaningful, though flawed.
Israel
LGBTQ+ Rights: There are broad legal protections, leading in the entire Middle East region.
Women’s Rights: There are strong legal rights, though gaps persist.
Speech / Press: Free speech and press is robust, wide-ranging, and highly protected.
Assembly: Assembly is protected, and large protests are frequent.
Non-Discrimination: Protections are strong, though minority issues remain.
Religion: Religious freedom is protected, though tensions do exist.
Fair Trial: Independent judiciary.
Movement: Free movement for citizens.
Voting: Full democratic rights for citizens.
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Author Biography of Safe Schools for Jewish Students
Ezra Barany, son of a Bronx father and a Dutch mother from Nazi-occupied Netherlands, loves riveting readers with Jewish thrillers. His first two books in The Torah Codes series were award-winning international bestsellers. In his free time, he has eye-opening discussions on the art of writing novels with his wife and book coach Beth Barany. A high school physics teacher, Ezra lives in Oakland with his beloved wife and two cats working on the next book. Ezra, not the cats.
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