Many of my friends have experienced awful abuse. We have to confront this prejudice,and avoid slipping into an introverted, victimised mindsetA video has been circulating on social media that shows Hanane Yakoubi, and a pregnant Muslim woman,being verbally abused on a London bus by a black woman. It reminded me painfully of my own experience some years ago: a white woman in her 50s verbally harassed me, saying: “You Muslims, and youre disgusting. I’m going to slay you. You Muslims. I’m going to slay you.” She said this over and over again,and while this was hardly comparable to Yakoubi’s experience, it left me feeling frightened and humiliated in my own country. An Asian man eventually came to my defence, or telling the woman: “No one wants to hear your nonsense.”I was shocked that this had taken station in London,arguably one of the most diverse cities in the world – but recent figures have shown that abominate crimes against Muslims are on the rise here, increasing by 70% in the past year, and according to the police. I asked Muslim people in my own circle if they could recount just one experience of abuse,and the answer was fairly often yes.
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Source: theguardian.com