UPDATE: The AG News report I had relied on for the report of the staging of little Aylan’s body has now retracted the story. It is most important to keep the truth up front – I’d rather learn the truth before winning an argument any time. The rest of my rant seems, at least for now, to be factually correct.
* * *
By now, everyone in the world (with internet access or not) has seen the heart-tugging pictures of poor little Aylan Kurdi’s drowned body on the sandy beach, demonstrating the human tragedy that results from this mass migration into Europe.
And a human tragedy it is.
But, as so often happens with emotionally charged stories, the first victim becomes the truth: especially if the narrative can manipulate the audience into somehow feeling good about themselves.
How can a child’s tragic death be used to make millions of Westerners feel good about themselves?
I will get to it.
First, please indulge me in reporting some of the truths of this incident.
The little boy’s name is not, in fact, Aylan Kurdi. His name is Aylan Shenu. ‘Kurdi’ is a reference to the fact that he is of Kurdish background and would perhaps be best translated as ‘Aylan, the Kurd’.
But, since the ‘Kurdish cause’ is currently in vogue in The West, the ‘Kurdi’ nomiker evokes the proper emotions in the Western audience and therefore, even in death, the little boy is stripped of his individuality, his own identity, in favour of playing up group politics.
Please, do not mistake my identification of the Kurdish cause as being in vogue in The West as any comment as to its rightness or wrongness: not in the least. In this particular article, I refuse to examine the source of the conflict and my opinions about it because this post is not about that!
It is about how a young child death was unnecessary, preventable and senseless – and how even in death he is stripped of his dignity by being used as a theatrical prop on the world stage!!!
Ok, now that we have his correct name, let’s stick to it: Aylan Shenu.
Wikipedia claims his first name is ‘Alan’, not ‘Aylan’, but they also claim his last name is ‘Kurdi’ and a lot of other factual errors can be found in their article, so I’m just noting this for completeness, not because I’m buying their version.
The next lie is that the family had tried to come to Canada and been turned down – and that is why they had to resort to this desperate boat ride. The family had never applied for entry to Canada.
As per the family itself – not just some lame bureaucrat’s claim.
But the family was fleeing war, right?
Wrong! The family had received free housing in Turkey of 3 years – the length of little Aylan Shenu’s life – and not been in any warn-torn, or even violence-threatened area.
Still, the conditions were so bad, they were escaping to save their lives, yes?
No! The family was hoping to go to Finland because they wanted to get dental care paid for by the Finish State rather than using the $5,000 their aunt had sent them from Canada to get their teeth fixed up. It was his parents’ greed – not war – that had caused the death of little Aylan Shenu!!!
And, to make sure his family had cut to the front of the line in the refugee application system, Abdullah, Aylan’s father, had sent his wife and children in first, alone, so that a lone mother and children would get help first. Then, under ‘family reunification’ program, he’d join them…
That manipulative greedy pig of a father was never even on the boat!!!
But, ‘greedy father wants free dental care and sends wife and babies on risky journey to cut in the refugee cue’ is nowhere near as pretty a narrative as ‘babies drown trying to escape war’…
More importantly, even though the true account of the event might evoke anger towards that {insert expletives of choice here} father, it would have no way of making the Western audience feel good about themselves. So, it would not sell nearly as many papers…and that’s before we get into the geo-political usefulness of the narrative over the truth.
Yet, if the media could spin this as a tragedy of those fleeing The Horrors of War – Westerners COULD be made feel better about themselves!
Just urge them to accept more migrants into their countries, welcome them, open their hearts and homes to them – then THEY will be DOING something ‘GOOD’. And thus feel good about themselves!!!
So, this narrative sells!
Of course, the fact that the UN openly states that it wants to undermine national homogeneity of EU member states – they’ve been saying this for a while now.
Which is exactly what this massive invasion is doing: who hasn’t seen the videos of migrants in Hungary chanting ‘Allahu Akhbar’ and ‘fuck you’ at the Hungarians as they destroy the food and water being distributed to them has not only failed to do their due diligence, they are guilty of wilful ignorance!
And Hungary is not the only place where the migrants are refusing donated food – videos from Germany where angry, young, able-bodied migrant are throwing it into garbage bins or pouring it on the ground in front of the very people who worked tirelessly to gather these donations for them abound!
Now, I speak as an immigrant: I went through the UN refugee camp in Traiskirchen and it was a tough place, to say the least. 35 years later, I still get ‘immigrant dreams’ now and then and, to be honest, even my family has still not heard about all that I had experienced on my journey from my birthplace to my home in Canada. So, I understand what immigrants go through, how dehumanizing the process can be.
Yet, never ever, in my wildest dreams, would we have behaved as these thugs do!
Yes, the food was not always the tastiest or according to what we were used to, but it was given to us out of the goodness of the heart of the givers – we were grateful for it! Beggars cannot be choosers…but these beggars are turning into bullies!
But, I digress. This is not my story – this is the story of little Aylan Kurdi Shenu.
So, the UN wants to erase the very thing that drove Europe into its technological and scientific progress: the competition between its nation states, driven by the rivalry between the various nationalities.
The media, who buy in to the UN’s politics, can not only advance its ideological aim, they can also financially benefit from twisting the true facts of the death of poor little Aylan Shenu.
And if there ever was a doubt about this being anything else, please, consider this, most telling fact: before the most heart-wrenching photos of little Aylan were taken, his body was specifically and intentionally posed!
And it worked…
That truly is a human tragedy!
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 
September 8, 2015 at 11:26
Excellent article, you should have added the original and staged pictures, though…
September 8, 2015 at 11:45
Thank you!
The original pictures are linked in the post: https://anongalactic.com/syrian-boys-body-was-moved-before-photos-were-taken/
September 9, 2015 at 16:21
There are numerous open questions involved in this complex unfolding drama.
First of all, how many staged incidents have there been, who staged them, and why? For example, a truck was recently found beside an Austrian highway with a huge number of corpses within. The implication was that the truck had crossed some border previously and not inspected. Given that there is no real border between Austria and Hungary (both EU members), that makes it more likely that the border was Hungary-Serbia. So why would these unfortunates be locked in the truck after presumably getting through said border. And from what we have seen of the thoroughness and the attitudes of Hungarian police, does that not suggest that a payoff would be the only way through? So once again, with the payoff made, why lock the truck? Why not just dump the paying customers near a bus station or take them with the doors partially open? And really, over a hundred in one rather small looking truck?
The cynic might say, perhaps these were deliberate corpses staged for the inevitable effect. Oh the poor suffering refugees, let them in, for God’s sake.
Now I know, Europe has pretty much ditched God so it must be for the sake of secular humanism.
Okay, another point, the signs are always in English. Why? Why would German speaking people welcome Arabic speaking (or perhaps French speaking) refugees in poorly translated English? (welcome in Germany, welcome in Frankfurt). This is clearly an orchestrated effort to get the Anglo-Saxon nations to take more refugees. The message is not aimed at Hungary or other reluctant countries.
And as has been widely discussed, why so many men, so few women and children? Have they abandoned their families? Or are they just opportunists looking to jump the queue and get into the richer European countries while legitimate applicants wait and wait back home, longer and longer since each illegal who comes probably reduces the quota (and the tolerance to admit more) for others.
I think this stream of people is probably some part legitimate hardship cases, some part opportunists, some part outright criminal elements, and some (smallish) part jihadi sleeper elements. We need to be very, very cautious about who gets into any of our countries. This is a part of the world where deception and play acting are rampant. Ever watch a soccer game between Mediterranean countries? You would think ten guys had died by half time. I played tough competitive soccer for twenty years and spent a grand total of two minutes off the pitch for injury. Some of those guys spend longer than that every game feigning unconsciousness. You get the sense in some cases that certain migrants are play acting for the cameras.
And in any case, the best solution is to fix up the awful mess in Syria and Libya and let all those people return to their homes. If we’re going to spend a lot of money and allocate military resources, why not do that instead?
September 24, 2015 at 01:58
The pictures were NOT staged. The article you link to has a correction at the end stating they were wrong. How inaccurate is the rest of what you’re saying?
September 24, 2015 at 06:30
Please note that I updated my post, noting that the article from which I got this information had, indeed, published a retraction. I even amended the title somewhat to reflect this.
The rest of the information I had posted has not been retracted by original sources and, indeed, appears to be factually sound.
September 5, 2016 at 17:16
Anongalatic account suspended. Guess a retraction wasn’t good enough.
September 13, 2016 at 00:26
Sorry I took so long to moderate – health issues, have been posting through a proxy…
April 5, 2018 at 15:54
Wait the pictures of the boy shows his skin being pink. How long would he have been dead for because don’t pldead people usually have blueish skin?
April 6, 2018 at 08:37
So is it possible that the boy was alive during the photos due to his skin still being pinkish?
April 6, 2018 at 08:52
No idea. To be perfectly honest, I have not thought of it before you suggested it… But, his dad was the captain of the boat, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility.
It would be a difficult stunt to pull off, but not impossible. At this point, I don’t think there is enough evidence to really learn the truth.
April 17, 2018 at 15:34
It wasn’t staged. It was his brother (Galib Kurdi). Check this out; https://www.documentingreality.com/forum/f225/aylan-kurdi-picture-staged-158909/index2.html (gatagato’s message)
You even discuss if he was alive and they faked these photos. This unfortunate incident took place in Turkey. Not in Syria. It’s an official fact. And it is investigated. The case is still in progress. 2 syrian migrants are accused and in detention. (The father of the kids is also alleged but not arrested)
So it’s not one of those fake propoganda photos which shooted in Syria. They were not random kids. They had names. We know who they are. So it could be researched.
And just think about that: why would any photographer take a photo of so-called “unstaged” scene? and even if she did (Nilüfer Demir, the photo journalist) why would she publish it for you to see it?
April 17, 2018 at 23:26
Indeed.
There are two most important issues that you raise.
#1. This is a real human being. He has a name. And, he is most likely dead. And if he himself is not the one who died, countless others just like him did.
There is no disputing that. And that is a real human tragedy. Nobody disagrees with that.
In fact, that is what gives this photo its power: an innocent, caught up in a conflict not within his/her control, ends up dead. And not just any ‘innocent’ – a young one whose potential can never be realized, can now never be known.
The magnitude of this tragedy cannot be overstated.
The fact that this tragedy is repeated over and over – and, let’s not kid ourselves, if the photographers could document one such instance, then many are bound to have happened – is a loss to all of humanity.
Which is what gives this photo its power.
True or not, staged or not – we all know that if this one is not true, others are. and we all weep for it.
That bit brings out the best of us, humans – our empathy.
#2
Now, to the second question you raise: why would anyone publish such a photo?
Are you kidding? Is this not beyond obvious?!?!?
This brings out the worst in us, humans!!!
For some, it is pure profit: a picture of an innocent suffering a cruel and unnecessary death. The money and publicity just keep rolling in!!!
For others, it is a much deeper and more sinister motive: the desire to exploit the emotions over reason.
After all, the best, most effective way to prevent more children (and adults) from sharing this child’s fate is to stop the flow. To turn the boats back, without exception – so no more set out and fail. To enforce the Shengen Zone borders and not permit ANY – NOT ONE – illegal from entering.
Harsh, but that is the ONLY way to prevent tragedies like this one.
Yet, by publishing and making this child’s death go ‘viral’, the public’s emotions have been successfully manipulated: the ‘toxic empathy’ had overtaken reason and global organizations which profit from human trafficking, from smuggling humans into Europe, have won a prize beyond their dreams: all of a sudden, toxic empathy overrode the reason of the vast majority of Europeans, and the floodgates were open, letting these ghoulish human smugglers reap profits beyond their wildest dreams.
Sad, but true.
April 18, 2018 at 11:08
I’m talking about the second photo. “The unstaged one”. Why would they publish the evidence of their “fraud”?
About the other issue; i really don’t understand why western people didn’t even see the other children. Just a few days before Aylan and Galib, we saw these kids in libya shores; https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/zuwara-locals-protest-hundreds-dead-migrants-wash-shore
http://es.abna24.com/708244/print.html
I mean I’m Turkish, and Aylan’s photo was shocking for people in my country because it took place in our country. But why it was more effective for the rest of the world?
Those children on the shores of Lİbya were devastating for me as much as Aylan’s photo. And there are many many more. Before and after Aylan’s death. And wil be…
I’m not discussing about the solution i’ve written that comment because of your claim that this photo was staged. It is not.
But about your solution, I must say that it’s not a solution. These people take the risk of their death. They will do it more dangerously as much as you dont allow it. They will do it no matter what unless the situation changes.
I will just say; these are human beings. This is humanity. This is our world. If you make a heaven by making the rest into a hell, you just cant live there happily ever after.
Hope I could express myself in English. Wish you all peace.
April 27, 2018 at 23:42
I am a refugee. Recognized as such by the UN.
Yet, I have never – nor would I – ever breech international laws to enter a country illegally.
There are rules – and if you want the benefit of UN Human Rights, you must follow those rules. If you do not – then you are a danger to all of us genuine refugees, and you must be treated as the law-breaker you are.
No pity, because it detracts from the plight of us, the true refugees.
April 28, 2018 at 11:46
No pity? OK…