Muslim woman stopping antisemitic act praised as hero

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - A Muslim woman has been praised as a hero after her intervention with a man who hurled racial abuse on a Jewish family on a London underground train.

Asma Shuweikh tried to stop the man abusing the family after he started his act of hatred at the family, a video captured by a passenger surfaced at the weekend showed.

The video shows a man directing his anti-semitic abuse at the family and gesturing at the family, who are wearing Jewish skullcaps.

Shuweikh is seen in the footage to have intervened with the man after another passenger tried to do the same but threatened by the man.

"He shouted at me that the Jews started the slave trade and threatened that I, my wife and children were going to be his slaves and suffer various other ailments," the victim of the incident said.

He said the man also claimed that the Jews were "from the synagogue of Satan".

Shuweikh said she was motivated to act by her own experiences of being attacked for her faith, according to the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).

"Campaign Against Antisemitism applauds Ms. Shuweikh and the gentleman who courageously confronted the abusive man and defended the Jewish family, and Mr. Atkins for filming the incident," the campaign said in a statement.

"CAA commends Asma Shuweikh and the unseen gentleman whose brave interventions serve as a timely reminder that British values of tolerance and respect are still alive and well," the statement said.

"CAA has provided support to the victim, who has expressed the desire to meet Ms. Shuweikh so that he can thank her in person".

The man has since been arrested by the British Transport Police (BTP).

"A man has been arrested in connection with an antisemitic incident on the London Underground," the BTP said.

It said the police "attended an address in Birmingham" on Saturday and arrested the man on "suspicion of a racially aggravated" public order offense.