Double standards control U.S.-led Western foreign policy: Egyptian writer

CAIRO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led West has been using "double standards" on international policies, an Egyptian writer has said.

Their "double standards" seek to penalize Russia over its conflict with Ukraine but ignore Israel's "crimes" against the Palestinians, said Galal Aref, chairman of the Supreme Council for Media Regulations, in an article published on the website of Egypt's state-run daily newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm on Sunday.

"While the U.S. government and its Western allies promote values like democracy, human rights and international law, they have often been unfair in using those principles more as talking points than policy positions," said Aref, also former chairman of Egypt's Syndicate of Journalists.

"The recent atrocities have revealed the Israeli occupation's savage policies that shocked people around the world," he said, adding that "double standards" are the criteria employed by Western powers that for a long time have been advocating the principles of freedoms and human rights in terms of foreign policy.

The political calculus for Israel is fairly simple: with unlimited U.S. backing, Israel can break international law and norms with impunity, while the West only offers condolences and expresses sorrow for the Palestinian people, Aref said.

"Egypt is against human rights violations, but it also rejects the double standards and international silence when it comes to the Palestinian occupied territories or the crimes committed in Arab countries without holding the perpetrators accountable till now," Aref added.