Man arrested following alleged antisemitic incident on London Tube
Written by News on 24/11/2019
A man has been arrested after antisemitic abuse was directed towards Jewish children on the London Underground.
The suspect, whose name and age has not been released by police, was held in Birmingham on Saturday night on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated public order offence and he remains in custody.
His arrest came after a man was filmed reading anti-Jewish bible passages to two young boys in skullcaps while they were travelling with their family on the Northern Line.
Wearing a cap and hoody, the man is seen in the video threatening a man off-camera after he tries to intervene before a woman in a hijab – Asma Shuweikh – confronts him.
The Londoner said she saw what was happening she knew she “had to confront him”.
“Being a mother-of-two, I know what it’s like to be in that situation and I would want someone to help if I was in that situation,” she said.
“If it had been me I would have liked someone to stand up for me.
“I just kept saying, ‘shall I say something?’ But London’s my city, I can’t allow this to happen.
Ms Shuweikh, who was travelling alone said: “I have a lot of bad memories growing up. Before, if someone was racially abusing you, no one would do anything. But now people have a platform to talk. Britain as a whole has come so far.”
She says she’s been overwhelmed by the public response, with people who have seen the video describing her as “special” and “brave”
Fellow commuter Chris Atkins took the video after catching the Tube heading south on the Charing Cross branch of the line at midday on Friday.
“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,” he said.
(c) Sky News 2019: Man arrested following alleged antisemitic incident on London Tube
