Accusations of anti-Semitism against the author of the new ZDF series
ZDF has commissioned a series in which Yasmin Ayhan – a young artist who has been accused of anti-Semitism several times – is involved. The sender responds evasively to a WELT request.
NAfter the scandal surrounding Nemi El-Hassan, a public broadcaster is again accused of working with an activist who is said to have spread anti-Semitic statements in the past. As it became known on Monday, the ZDF is planning to publish a series with the participation of Yasmin Ayhan. The poetry slammer, known by her stage name Yasmin Poesy, is therefore part of the team of authors for the sitcom “Barrys Barbershop”, which ZDF ordered from a production company.
Ayhan attracted attention several times in recent years with contributions that observers rated as anti-Semitic. In 2015 she presented a text at an event organized by the Hamas-affiliated German Youth for Palestine in which she denied the Israeli state the right to exist.
It said: “No one who could counter when I say Palestine deserves freedom. Nobody who could counter when I say that a two-state solution is not fair. ”And further:“ What Israel destroyed in Palestine will not die, and what Israel built in Palestine will not Live a second. “
There are also screenshots of Instagram posts circulating on the Internet in which Ayhan allegedly referred to the soldiers of the Israeli army as “terrorists”. She also distributed an anti-Semitic cartoon on the social network that showed a Jew with a hooked nose. For the latter, she is said to have apologized later.
Criticism of TV appearances
This is not the first time Ayhan has worked with a TV broadcaster. This year she appeared on the SWR talk show “Five Souls”, where she spoke on an apolitical topic – in-laws. The WDR documentation “My head. My cloth “ showed Ayhan as one of several protagonists who, according to the broadcaster’s description, wear a headscarf “voluntarily and independently”. The Green politician Volker Beck wrote on Twitter in March that Ayhan could “not be tolerated in an ÖRR format as part of the democratic discourse”.
Ayhan hosted an episode of the “WYKAT” program for MTV Germany last year. MTV later distanced itself from her. “Based on the statements we recently made aware of, we have decided not to work with Ayhan again in the future,” said the broadcaster.
Ayhan responded with a video saying she felt that she was being treated racially. “Can’t I criticize the government of every country in the world?” She asked. “Why am I not allowed to say that? Because I wear a headscarf and come from the Middle East? “
ZDF evades
The ZDF series, in which Ayhan is now involved, is about an influencer who wants to open a hair salon. The sitcom is to be published in the media library at the end of the year. The ZDF did not respond to the WELT request on the anti-Semitism allegations.
In a response from the press office, it was only said that Ayhan had been part of a five-person team of authors for the project, which is being produced by the Studio71 company, since August 2021. The comedian Barry Hammerschmitt plays an influencer who is giving up his social media career. “Basically, all productions commissioned by ZDF are editorially checked and their content approved.”