{"id":22559,"date":"2017-04-10T00:37:52","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T00:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=22559"},"modified":"2017-04-10T00:37:52","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T00:37:52","slug":"muslim-woman-stared-edl-leader-demo-reveals-story-behind-powerful-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=22559","title":{"rendered":"Muslim woman who stared down EDL leader at demo reveals the story behind powerful photo"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Saffiyah Khan said she felt compelled to step in when Ian Crossland and over 20 of his supporters confronted a Muslim woman<\/h2>\n<p>A brave woman pictured staring down the leader of the far-right English Defence League has said she &#8220;was not scared in the slightest&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Saffiyah Khan said she felt compelled to step in when Ian Crossland and over 20 EDL supporters confronted a woman wearing a hijab who had been shouting at them.<\/p>\n<p>Saffiyah, who was observing the EDL protest in Birmingham yesterday, claimed police &#8220;did nothing&#8221; to protect the woman.<\/p>\n<p>But when she stepped in, the group turned on her and she was caught in a stand-off with Crossland which was caught on camera.<\/p>\n<p>She is seen stood with one hand in her pocket calmly looking down at irate Crossland.<\/p>\n<p>The picture, taken by Press Association photographer Joe Giddens. has been shared thousands of times across social media by celebrities and politicians.<\/p>\n<p>Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan tweeted the snap and wrote: &#8220;**PHOTO OF THE WEEK** Enraged EDL racist stared down by amused, contemptuous Asian woman.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"box shadow  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">**PHOTO OF THE WEEK**<br \/>\nEnraged EDL racist stared down by amused, contemptuous Asian woman. #Birmingham<br \/>\n(via @AlexisTrust) pic.twitter.com\/5kBdrrgvGf<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 8, 2017<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Local MP Jess Phillips wrote: &#8220;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&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Saffiyah, of Birmingham, said: &#8220;The reason I was there was because I am a Brummie.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was happening in Birmingham and it felt right. I am not a political activist.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t in a confrontational role, I wanted to keep a low profile.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was there with a few friends to look after people &#8211; because Muslims and people of colour are often abused.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nothing was really happening until a woman in a headscarf started shouting &#8216;racist&#8217;.<\/p>\n<div class=\"box shadow  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">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<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) April 8, 2017<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;About 20 to 25 EDL people ran over and surrounded her. She looked absolutely terrified. I still hung back and waited for the police to sort it out.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I waited two or three minutes and but the police did nothing, so I decided to go and try and get her out of there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It all happened very quickly. She left, but then I was identified as anti-fascist. The group turned on me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ian Crossland was poking his finger in my face, but I just stood there. I didn&#8217;t do anything, I wasn&#8217;t interested, that wasn&#8217;t my intention.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t understand what was being said though to be honest, it was all very mumbled.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But I wasn&#8217;t scared in the slightest. I stay pretty calm in these situations. I knew they were trying to provoke me, but I wasn&#8217;t going to be provoked.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was just holding out. Then I was just pulled out of there, I wasn&#8217;t arrested or charged.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have lost my anonymity because of the picture, but on balance it was worth it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have probably been profiled by them now and I have to take one for the team.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t realise how many people would be so supportive, so it was worth it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Birmingham Central Mosque opened its doors to people of all religions and ethnicities for a &#8216;Best of British&#8217; tea party in response to the EDL protest.<\/p>\n<p>EDL switched their demonstration from the East Midlands to Birmingham after the Westminster terror attack , to highlight what it claims as a &#8220;continued increase in Islamic terrorism&#8221; linked to the city.<\/p>\n<p>But Muhammed Afzal, Birmingham Central Mosque&#8217;s chairman, said communities in the city would remain united irrespective of their religion or race.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When the English Defence League is protesting and trying to divide the community, we are holding this party just to prove to them that Birmingham is a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith community,&#8221; Mr Afzal said.<\/p>\n<p>West Midlands&#8217; elected Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson attended the party and claimed the EDL was bringing &#8220;little more than division&#8221; to the region.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saffiyah Khan said she felt compelled to step in when Ian Crossland and over 20 of his supporters confronted a Muslim woman A brave woman pictured staring down the leader of the far-right English Defence League has said she &#8220;was not scared in the slightest&#8221;. Saffiyah Khan said she felt compelled to step in when &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38],"tags":[1871,1845],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Muslim woman who stared down EDL leader at demo reveals the story behind powerful photo - TheFastFashion.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=22559\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muslim woman who stared down EDL leader at demo reveals the story behind powerful photo - TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saffiyah Khan said she felt compelled to step in when Ian Crossland and over 20 of his supporters confronted a Muslim woman A brave woman pictured staring down the leader of the far-right English Defence League has said she &#8220;was not scared in the slightest&#8221;. 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