DUBAI: A photograph of a woman in Birmingham staring down an English Defense League (EDL) protester has gone viral, with the woman speaking out about the snap on Sunday.
On Saturday, Muslim Saffiyah Khan was photographed smiling in the face of a far-right EDL protester in a picture that has been tweeted by Birmingham MP Jess Phillips who wrote: “Who looks like they have power here, the real Brummy on the left or the EDL who migrated for the day to our city and failed to assimilate?”
The MP’s tweet had been shared about 9,000 times and liked nearly 17,000 times by Monday morning.
TV host Piers Morgan tweeted the image, with the caption: ““Enraged EDL racist stared down by amused, contemptuous Asian woman.”
Who looks like they have power here, the real Brummy on the left or the EDL who migrated for the day to our city and failed to assimilate pic.twitter.com/bu96ALQsOL
— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) April 8, 2017
Khan spoke to the BBC about the story behind the viral photograph, saying she had stepped forward to defend a woman wearing a hijab.
“I don’t like seeing people getting ganged up on in my town,” Khan said.
“This was happening in Birmingham and it felt right. I am not a political activist…I wasn’t in a confrontational role, I wanted to keep a low profile,” she added.
Khan told the BBC that a Muslim woman wearing hijab was surrounded by EDL protesters after she screamed “racist,” and that’s when she chose to step in.
“It all happened very quickly. She left, but then I was identified as anti-fascist. The group turned on me.
“Ian Crossland was poking his finger in my face, but I just stood there. I didn’t do anything, I wasn’t interested, that wasn’t my intention…I couldn’t understand what was being said though to be honest, it was all very mumbled,” Khan said.
“But I wasn’t scared in the slightest. I stay pretty calm in these situations.. I knew they were trying to provoke me, but I wasn’t going to be provoked.”
