There's a few images in the refugee crisis roadmap that have come to define the epidemic for most of the world. Aylan Kurdi's red shirt and sneakers became the symbol of the international community's failure to save Syria last month. Before him, there was Laith Majid, whose tears of relief reaching European shores were captured by the New York Times.
But social media took a darker turn this week when a photo purporting to show Daesh (ISIS) flag-wielding refugees attacking European policemen. Right-wing media rejoiced — Daesh was sneaking into Europe under the guise of needing asylum, this picture proved it!
Here's the image, and a screenshot of the Conservative Post story.
The photo went viral on conservative media. But as the Independent revealed Tuesday, there were a few small problems; the most important being that it is actually from 2012, not a Daesh flag and entirely unrelated to refugees.
Instead, it appears to be part of footage taken during an anti-Islam protest in Bonn, Germany, during which demonstrators were holding a counter-protest.
So essentially, this is an image depicting non-refugee Muslims waving a flag with Islamic scroll, protesting at an event not unlike the ones conservatives in Europe are in the middle of throwing over the refugee crisis. As for Daesh? Neither the group nor their now-infamous black flag were well known back in 2012.
Sorry right-wing fearmongerors. Better luck next time.
