What would you do if faced by a mob of people all attacking your race and what you believe in? Most of us would make a run for it, and that’s fair enough, but this woman bravely confronted her critics.
When Zakia Belkhiri, 22, was innocently attending an Islamic lifestyle event in Antwerp when she came face-to-face with Vlaams Belang, an openly anti-muslim group, who were carrying Islamophobic images and banners reading “no headscarves,” “no mosques,” and “stop Islam.”
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#ZakiaBelkhiri The courage of a Muslim women who don’t require an army or protest to prove her point pic.twitter.com/euW59PWsli
— Zeba Khan (@_zeb_khan) May 20, 2016
Seeing the persistent demonstrators did the hijab-wearing Muslim run? No. Did she shout back at them? No. Did she try to hide? No. Instead Belkhiri defiantly walked up to the 40-strong Vlaams Belang, pulled out her phone and started taking photos of herself in front of them holding up her fingers in a peace sign. Her actions were so non-aggressive, yet so powerful, a photographer for Vice, Jurgen Augusteyns, who was watching Belkhiri, captured the moment in a series of images.
How did the demonstrators retaliate? According to Augusteyns, one of them criticised Belkhiri for using her mobile phone, claiming it was against Islam. “Zakia just laughed at her and told her she should properly learn about Islam before stating such nonsense,” he recalled.
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In an interview with BBC Trending, Belkhir, who has been dubbed “fearless” and a “hero” said she took the photos “to show that things can be different. And that we can live together, not next to each other but with each other.”
Zakia Belkhiri told @BBCTrending she took the selfie “to show that things can be different” https://t.co/3eXJ5kl81F pic.twitter.com/AC5Lq6XnP5
— BBC News US (@BBCNewsUS) May 18, 2016
Belkhiri insists her actions were not a protest though, saying: “This wasn’t a protest at all, this was just to share joy and peace.”
The modern activist also took to Twitter to share her thoughts, stating: “There will be always people who can’t stand me or hate me but why judge? I’m just a kid nothing special we are all human and one!:
Sadly, Belkhiri, who said she “didn’t want to look like a girl who seeks attention,” has since deleted her Twitter account, but we are hoping this isn’t the last we will hear of this brave woman.
