"Breaking the Silence" - Hamas policeman admits abuses. No one cares.

Last week, NPR had a piece about the problems that Hamas and Fatah are having with paying salaries in Gaza.

During the segment, reporter Emily Harris interviewed a policeman, identified only as Mohammed, who originally was part of the PA but continued to work for Hamas after the coup.

Mohammed mentioned how Hamas police trample human rights with impunity.

"At checkpoints, I could hold anyone - search him completely, even his socks, just to intimidate him. We could break in and search houses without court orders. We forced prisoners to pray," admits Mohammed. "Everyone is afraid of revenge" for their abuses, he added.

Although this was broadcast on an ostensibly liberal radio network five days ago, I cannot find a single mention of this quote of admission on any website outside NPR. No liberal reporters or bloggers picked up on this part of the story. There is no outrage from people who pretend that they care about human rights. Electronic Intifada did not write an outraged post about police abuse of innocent Palestinians. NPR's thousands of listeners heard about explicit police abuses in Gaza, and they all collectively shrugged.

Note also that reporter Emily Harris didn't think to ask more about these abuses. She could have mined a ton of specific, first-hand information about how Hamas police trample human rights, but she decided not to. There was another great story here that Harris decided was not worth pursuing.

Because Arabs are expected to trample human rights, no one bothers to be outraged when they do.

This was a real-life "Breaking the Silence" - and unlike that purely political organization that reports second-hand stories to boost its funding, this laconic admission is real.

People who swear they are so concerned about human rights really care more about the alleged abusers of human rights than the victims.  Which proves that their supposed interest in human rights is a joke.

(h/t Walt)