Sat 23 November 2019:
A Muslim woman has been called “incredibly brave” after confronting a man shouting antisemitic slurs at a Jewish family on a train in the British capital on Friday.
The woman, who wears the hijab, was praised by many after a shocking video of the incident circulated on social media.
The footage showed a man leaning towards a little boy and his father while reading out loud ostensibly anti-Jewish Bible passages.
When a bystander initially tried to confront him, the man responded with threats.
The Muslim woman then intervened asking the man to stop his abuse and be considerate towards the children.
Chris Atkins, who took the video and posted it on Twitter, called the woman “incredibly brave”.
“I’ve lived in London for 20 years and you’re used to people ranting on the Tube – it was only after a minute I realised, ‘hang on this is really, really antisemitic’,” the 43-year-old told the PA news agency.
Atkins said the Jewish father and son were sitting with a woman and another younger child, who were out of the camera shot when the incident took place.
Around noon I witnessed appalling anti Semitic abuse towards this Jewish Family on the northern line. Fair play to other passengers who stood up to him. If you recognise the guy please report to @metpoliceuk pic.twitter.com/YxzwAnDqTJ
— Chris Atkins (@scatatkins) November 22, 2019
“The Muslim woman didn’t take any s*** from him and really, really took him to task, very firmly and persistently,” he said.
“In this day and age we are told how intolerant everyone is and all religions hate each other and there you had a Muslim woman sticking up for some Jewish children.”
Many who saw the video posted online also hailed the Muslim woman.
“That lady is a special women,” Broadcaster Suzi Perry said on Twitter.
“A Muslim lady going to the defence of a Jewish father and son gives me renewed hope for the future of this wonderful country of ours,” another twitter user said.
British police said they were investigating the incident.
“We are aware of a video circulating on Twitter which shows passengers being harassed and being targeted with anti-Semitic abuse on a Northern Line train,” the force said in a statement.
“Enquiries are being made in relation to this footage.”
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