Opinion: Solidarity as a slogan

Special Arab summits are called, tearjerking solidarity meetings take place, and then arms are delivered to various opposition groups. In the meantime, a media machine based in the Gulf region relentlessly presents emotional reports and heartrending live coverage blasting President Bashar al-Assad for the miserable state of the Syrian people. And this is all supposed to support Syrians and help them regain a decent life.

Now that Syrian people need support more than ever, however, many Arab nations are no longer willing to embrace them, with the exception of poorer neighboring countries such as Jordan, which is home to 630,000 Syrian refugees, and Lebanon, which has taken in 1.3 million. Some other Arab countries have also helped enormously. But, more and more, Syrians are fleeing west, to Europe. Germany alone is expecting 800,000 refugees in 2015 - mostly from Syria.

Those are dramatic figures, and one must ask in comparison how many refugees the wealthier Arab states have taken in. According to Amnesty International, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain have not taken in any Syrian refugees. What about "brotherhood" and "solidarity" within the once celebrated ummah, the community of all Muslims worldwide? Nonexistent. Arabs who feel a speck of compassion and solidarity should be ashamed of themselves. The Arab world has failed in the refugee crisis - morally and politically.

The Lebanese newspaper Ad-Diyar reports that - instead of providing security, protection and perspectives - Saudi Arabia is offering to pay up to $200 million (175 million euros) for the construction of 200 new mosques and set up a board of trustees to oversee "the spiritual leadership of the Muslim refugees." That would be quite an odd way of helping people in need. Though the report has not yet been confirmed, it is hardly surprising that a number of German politicians have reacted with outrage. A Social Democrat member of parliament called it a "horrible idea" on Twitter, and the secretary-general of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU, has described the offer as "cynical."

People fleeing war in Syria need real help and compassion, not more mosques - and the refugees are finding what they need in Germany. It is therefore reasonable for the Federal Republic to expect that the refugees will repay the country with appreciation, gratitude and fidelity to the law. Saudi Arabia, other Gulf States, Salafists and other radical fringe groups in Germany do not offer Muslim refugees a home for their faith- Recognized Muslim organizations in Germany must assume responsibility for this. The wealthy Arab "brothers" are behaving poorly. But Germany is a country that stands by the words in its constitution.

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