By How do you stop a group of Islamophobic activists dead in their tracks? Snap a selfie, of course.
That’s exactly what 22 year-old Zakia Belkhiri did.
Donning a black hijab and armed with a peace sign, Belkhiri proceeded to take several smiling selfies beside members of right wing political group Vlaams Beland. The activists, who came equipped with a range of signs that read “No headscarves,” “No mosques,” and “Stop Islam,” were set up to protest the third annual Muslim Expo in the Belgian city of Antwerp.
Photographer Jurgen Augusteyns, who was also present for the event, captured Belkhiri’s selfie-taking in all its glory. His powerful images immediately went viral after being published by VICE.
In the midst of trying to capture the perfect selfie (come on, we all know there’s a process), one of the demonstrators advised Belkiri that Islam forbids the use of cellphones.
“Zakia just laughed at the woman and told her she should properly learn about Islam before stating such nonsense,” Augusteyns said.
It was not long before the Twitterverse reached out to commend the young Muslim woman for her bravery. The hashtags #fearless and #hero were used to retweet her epic moment.
With the popularity of apps like Twitter and Snapchat, it seems political selfies are becoming increasingly more mainstream. While many still see them as a form of digital narcissism, activists view them as an easy tool for political empowerment.
If anything, it’s reassuring to know we live in a time where hate can be effectively countered with a simple–and peaceful–photograph.
“You’ll Never Guess What This Muslim Girl Did to SLAY Anti-Islam Activists Dead in Their Tracks”
An IED? Hey, that’s a perfectly legitimate guess when you’ve got a headline like that.
we are proud to have like this girl and she is honour to us to defend for islam without hurts anyone.
As we can see no one of the so-called Islamophobes harmed her.
Muslims would lynch Kufar in such a situation as we saw in Farkhunda’s case in Afghanistan.