It's only been a few weeks since German Chancellor Angela Merkel shot into the limelight as a pillar of amnesty in a European asylum sphere otherwise mottled with barbed wire and bureaucracy.
But just how much are Arabs rejoicing? Apparently in Iraq, enough to at least dedicate a few tunes to the politician.
Videos surfaced on Arabic social media Sunday showing jubilent Iraqis gathering around a speaker touting all Merkel's graces in spirited Arabic prose. You can see the skinny poet surrounded by a crowd of people and waving his hands through the air.
"We are your soldiers [Merkel], from Greece to Berlin," he says in one verse.
Elsewhere on social media, asylum seekers are showing Merkel some love in other ways — from changing their Facebook profiles to wearing screen-printed tees of her face. Plenty of criticism has stormed through Germany over the Chanellor's new policies, but she certainly has a fan base in those she's helping the most.
Check out the video and other social media moments below.
Iraq asylum seeker w Merkel T-Shirt arrives at Hungary border. pic.twitter.com/SZclpvReid
— Peter Bouckaert (@bouckap) September 13, 2015
#Iraq | Iraqi singer dedicate a song to Chancellor of #Germany Angela Merkel for her role in supporting ME refugees pic.twitter.com/16vZ9TVpmp
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) September 13, 2015
She should play this just before her speech at the next CSU party congress just to annoy Seehofer https://t.co/OGkzjkra27
— Alexander Clarkson (@APHClarkson) September 13, 2015
. @zaidbenjamin so many Iraqis On FB on my timeline have Angela as their DP. Arabs love idolizing... pic.twitter.com/kJvCMdlV9q
— The 47th (@THE_47th) September 13, 2015