Islamophobic attack rips hijab off teenager
5 Min Read
An incident has gone viral of New Zealand teenagers beating their colleague at school, ripping her hijab off with international model Bella Hadid decrying the attack.
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Justice for Huda
17-year-old Huda Al-Jamaa was sitting in the supposed safety of her school in New Zealand when three girls went up to her, asked her how to swear in Arabic before bullying her and ripping her hijab off her head.
Bystanders filmed the incident while the situation escalated, as the girls beat her face and body.
"Two of the girls held me and one hit me and after I fell on the ground, she... was still hitting my face and my body. I was waiting for the teacher to help me," Huda said.
The video filmed was heinously shared between girls and boys at school, exposing and violating Huda's privacy, taunting her.
"My hijab... is my culture and my religion. My hijab is everything for me and I love my hijab and those other girls love their hijabs," she said.
The attackers had tried to do the same thing with Huda's friends.
The girls beat her on the head so aggressively that she had to be admitted to the hospital for a concussion, making school attendance and learning difficult.
This is not the first time Huda experienced violent attacks against her being and culture. She had repeatedly been flipped off and called a "terrorist" by other students.
The attack happened on Wednesday, February 9, and Muslim students were attacked by 3 girls in their early teens, according to a police statement. The girls have been identified and being investigated.
"This altercation has caused significant disquiet and distress for the girls, their families, and the wider Muslim community. We are treating this incident with the utmost urgency and care.
"Violence or threatening behavior including any involving hate, hostility, or prejudice regarding race, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age is not acceptable," the police said.
The chairman of the Otago Muslim Association, Mohammad Rizwan, is pleased that the Otago police are taking the incident seriously.
"We’re just normal people like everyone else but a people of faith," said Rizwan.
Bella Hadid, a Palestinian-Dutch model and activist, expressed outrage over the incident on her official Instagram page, which has over 50 million followers.
View this post on Instagram
"It makes me angry and sick to my stomach," Hadid said. "We need to change this mindset of immediate judgment."
"Teach our friends, children, parents, families that wearing a hijab, being Muslim, or being anything other than white in general, does not equal being a threat or different than anyone else. Teach them to love before hate. To educate before judgment. To protect before bullying."
In her post, Hadid expressed support for Huda, her friends who were also attacked, and Muslim women in general.
"I am so sorry to the ones that have felt this kind of disrespect. You do not deserve it," Hadid wrote. "Keep your faith. Love your God. Be you. And the ones who appreciate and love you for YOU are the only ones that matter."
"It’s not you, it’s them. Remember that. I love you."
Hijab hate systemic, a reflection of western antagonism
Last month, a survey published by the University of Birmingham showed that a quarter of people in the UK hold negative views about Muslims and Islam.
The study showed that people from the middle and upper-class occupational groups were "more likely to hold prejudiced views of Islam" than people from working-class occupational groups.
More than 25% of participants in the survey had negative views about Muslims, while 10% felt "very negative". 1 in 5 people also supported banning "Muslim" migration to the UK, with 10% showing "strong support" for the idea.
Islamophobia is generally coming rampant in the West: France has also issued a ban on hijabs in sports last month.
The French Senate in late January voted in favor of banning hijabs in sports competitions in the latest round of French Islamophobia and religious discrimination, arguing that "neutrality is a requirement" on the field.
The amendment aims at banning "the wearing of the veil in sports competitions," the text clearly stated, also arguing that the hijab could "put at risk" the safety of athletes wearing it.
The amendment was proposed by the right-wing Les Republicains party, and it was adopted in the senate with 160 votes in favor and 143 against.
Within the same timeframe, Muslim Indian students wearing the hijab were banned from attending college classes.
The students were even asked to remove their headscarves, but they refused. The six Muslim students were accused by the college administration of defying the rules, alleging that the hijab is not part of the uniform.
The girls insist that the hijab is part of their faith, the practice of which is guaranteed by law. They've been marked absent from their classes since December 31, despite their going to university every day.
The college's principal says the students are allowed to wear the hijab on school premises, but not inside classes, as it is against college rules, according to him. The students say the administration forced them to write a letter accepting they missed the classes by staying home on their own, threatening they would ruin their careers if they did not sign.
