As if the Ukraine war did not have enough victims already…
According to the United Nations, around two million people are on the run because of the devastating war in Ukraine. Many of them have fled towards the West, arriving in Poland, Hungary, but also already in Germany. The willingness to help and solidarity towards these victims is remarkably high – and precisely that seems to be a thorn in the flesh of some people.
Now a board member of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) has posted a disgusting photo – defaming the suffering and plight of refugees in the Ukraine war!
The Ukraine war: Disgusting comments on refugees by a board member of the Central Council of Muslims
In his Instagram account, Mehmet Celebi (39), one of three deputies of ZMD chairman Aiman Mazyek, shared a photo of two children in a swimming pool with their mother. The mother (labelled “World’s Attention”) is holding up one of the two children labelled “Ukraine” while the other labelled “Palestine” is apparently about to drown.
The message is clear: while the (Western) world is doing everything it can to help Ukraine and shelter refugees from the country, Palestine is in the process of symbolically dying – without even being noticed by the rest of the world. The photo is also divided into a second half showing a skeleton under water – and the names of Islamic countries that are already “dead” (Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, among others) without the West having rushed to help.
Former Green MP Volker Beck (61) confronted Celebi on Twitter and wrote directly to ZMD chair Aiman Mazyek: “Your deputy Mehmet Celebi defames aid and solidarity for Ukraine. Is this the opinion of the Central Council of Muslims?” Does the Central Council of Muslims in Germany share the opinion of one of its chairmen that there is less willingness to help Muslims in Western Europe than there is at present towards Ukrainians?
According to research by this editorial team, Mehmet Celebi has already caused a stir in the past with Turkish nationalist slogans on social media, had glorified the Turkish war of aggression against Kurdish militias and compared the Holocaust with Israeli self-defence against Hamas rockets on Twitter. His activities on the board of the ATIB (“Avrupa Türk-islam Birligi”, in German: “Union der Türkisch-Islamischen Kulturvereine in Europa”) have already attracted negative attention. The ATIB is ideologically close to the extreme right-wing “Grey Wolves” and is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
How can a man with such world views be on the board of an organisation that, in its own words, promotes intercultural and religious understanding and tolerance in Germany? The ZMD did not comment specifically on Mehmet Celebi when asked. The spokesperson succinctly said: “Mr Celebi’s post in no way reflects the ZMD’s stance.”