Muslim Woman Defends Jewish Family

"As a mother of two, it really did disturb me, and also as a practicing Muslim, for me to see that." Meet Asma Shuweikh, who stood up and defended a father and his young sons against anti-Semitic abuse on the London Underground.

Her faith is what drives her to speak out against injustice


Asma Shuweikh, a Muslim woman, was filmed defending a Jewish father and his young children from the anti-Semitic abuse they were receiving from another passenger on a London train. The video quickly went viral all over the world. Across social media, Shuweikh was heralded as a hero.


He saw this Jewish family and as he saw them, he rushed to them. And when he rushed towards them, he pointed at them and said to them, "Are you a Jew?" And as he replied to him, "Yes," that's when he started to slur all these anti-Semitic comments towards him. Someone did stand up to him, but he wasn't taking it. I thought if I tried to calm him down, maybe he might stop what he's doing. And plus, he was talking towards the children as well. It wasn't just the man himself. He was actually looking at the children and showing them, this is what it says here, "You are imposters. You are not the real Jews. You don't…" I felt really sorry for the children. As a mother of two, it really did disturb me, and also as a practicing Muslim, for me to see that, because obviously we've been subjected to racial hatred and Islamophobia, all this stuff. So, I mean, it just took me back to when I was subjected to that kind of cruelty and that kind of abuse, really,” Asma Shuweikh tells Brut.


Asma revealed she had been subjected herself to racist abuse in the past, recounting an incident in which a motorist had thrown jellybeans at her face. But, while no one stuck up for her then, she still found the inner strength to come to this family’s defense. A 35-year-old man from Hillingdon, who has not been named by police, was arrested in Birmingham on Saturday on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and later bailed. His bail is subject to conditions and he is due to return to police custody on 21 December.


Brut.


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Brut.