German TV network accused of Islamophobia for producing mock-up image of “Muslim Merkel”, as Pegida shows resurgence with 9,000-strong rally.
An image of Angela Merkel wearing a traditional Iranian Islamic headscarf has caused controversy in Germany.
ARD television was inundated with complaints after it broadcast a mocked-up picture of Mrs Merkel wearing the garment, known as a chador, against a backdrop of the Reichstag surrounded by minarets.
The image was shown during a debate on the refugee crisis on Report from Berlin, a Newsnight-style programme, and was intended to be satirical, the broadcaster claimed.
But many viewers accused the programme-makers of Islamophobia, and said they were deliberately provoking anti-Muslim sentiments.
“This is not constructive journalism. Ugh!” read one comment on the programme’s Facebook page. “The mood turns because of such defamation and propaganda. So yes it’s true: integration cannot succeed.”
The broadcaster defended the use of the image. “Of course it was also the of this artwork to provoke and polarise opinion,” it said in a statement.
“We consider this satirical form of representation to be in keeping with our journalistic values. We reject any insinuation that we would operate Islamophobic propaganda.”
But many viewers complained that the image was similar to posters produced by the anti-Islam and anti-immigrant movement Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West.
Pegida has been attempting to make a comeback in recent weeks on the back of opposition to Mrs Merkel’s refugee policy. Some 9,000 people took part in a Pegida demonstration in Dresden on Monday evening.
The movement drew 25,000 people to its marches at its hieght in January, before collapsing in disarray after its founder, Lutz Bachmann was pictured posing as Hitler.
