A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was photographed walking along Westminster Bridge while a victim of the Wednesday Terror Attack in London was lying on the pavement and six other people were nearby. Two women were kneeling, attending to the victim, while four others were standing as they looked at the victim.
Indifferent to the attack?
The Muslim woman was looking at her mobile phone in her right hand and holding her head with her left hand. Even if her face showed a distraught look, some anti-Islam commenters criticized her for looking like she was oblivious to what was happening.
The March 23 terror attack killed four people and injured many bystanders. Reports said that the attacker, eventually identified as 52-year-old Khalid Masood, a Briton with a history of using several aliases and criminal activity, drove a vehicle through pedestrians on the bridge where the Muslim woman was passing through. Khalid Masood knifed the police officer who attempted to prevent him from entering the House of Parliament. Cops later shot Masood dead.
After Jamie Lorriman, who took the photo, posted the picture of the Muslim woman, a Twitter member using the handle @SouthLoneStar wrote, “Muslim woman pays no mind to the terror attack, casually walks by a dying man while checking phone,” Daily Mail reported.
The tweet was likely read by the majority of @SouthLoneStar’s 44,000 followers, although only about 2,000 retweeted it and another 2,300 liked it. One of his hashtags was #BanIslam.
Anti-Islam rant
However, the Muslim woman reacted to the rising anti-Islam sentiment globally that was further worsened by ISIS-led attacks in different major cities and the recent London attack, The Telegraph reported.
She gave a statement to Tell MAMA, a group that collated anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom. The woman explained that she was devastated by witnessing the attack which she described as numbing and shocking.
The Muslim woman added that she also has to deal with the shock of finding her photo spread all over social media and criticism from people “who could not look beyond my attire, who draw conclusions based on hate and xenophobia.” She said her thoughts at the moment were one of sadness, fear and concern.
The woman said that the photo did not capture her talking to other witnesses to find out what happened and if she could help.
In defense of the woman in hijab
Jamie Lorriman defended the Muslim woman. She said that those who criticized the woman in hijab were selective. “It’s wrong it’s been misappropriated in that way,” the photographer said. A Twitter member who uses the handle @vickyyyf retorted that it is @SouthLoneStar who is “a complete embarrassing mess of a person” and “stupidity embodied.” She admonished him to return crawling back to the pond where he came from.
The London attack could add fuel to the argument U.S. President Donald Trump made with his executive order that prohibited immigrants like the Muslim woman from seven Middle Eastern nations classified as “at risk.” But Khalid Masood was not an immigrant.
He was born in Kent, England, where he worked as an English teacher, however, he eventually converted to Islam. ISIS took responsibility for the attack. Nine more people were arrested on suspicion of being part of the terror plot.
