Jenan later was admitted to the hospital after feeling ill with headaches and was diagnosed with having a concussion from the attack.
Jenan later was admitted to the hospital after feeling ill with headaches and was diagnosed with having a concussion from the attack.
Jenan later was admitted to the hospital after feeling ill with headaches and was diagnosed with having a concussion from the attack.
In yet another Islamophic attack in the United States, a Muslim woman was slapped twice, had her hijab torn off, her hair pulled, and was shouted at to “go back to your country” in Dallas, Texas while on holiday with her family.
Jenan Ayesh, originally from Oklahoma, was on holiday in Dallas, Texas with her mother and 10-year-old daughter when the attack happened on Saturday, December 29th of last year. Supported now by the Oklahoma chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Ayesh is now speaking to reporters and raising awareness about the attack that left her with a concussion.
The attacker, a woman who as of yet has not been publically identified by the Dallas Police Department, allegedly became frustrated when trying to pass through a door in front of the Ayesh family near the iconic Reunion Tower, a popular tourist sight.
The woman then allegedly shouted at Jenan to “go back to your country”, in which Jenan answered that America was her country. The attacker then aggressively asked why Jenan wore the hijab before slapping her twice, then ripping off her hijab. Jenan then had her hair yanked by the woman, who afterwards fled the scene.
Jenan later was admitted to the hospital after feeling ill with headaches and was diagnosed with having a concussion from the attack.
Speaking at a press conference organized by CAIR, Jenan expressed how traumatic it was for not only herself but also for her mother and 10-year-old daughter who also witnessed the attack. “I never thought that I would get attacked in this way, especially in front of my mom,” Jenan said, and that “no child [should ever have to] see their mom in that kind of condition or have to experience that”.
In a time where Islamophic attacks are on the rise globally, with CAIR reporting that in the U.S. alone there was a 17% increase in attacks against Muslims in 2017, it is more important than ever to publically name a hate crime when it takes place. With far too many attacks either unreported or labeled under violence and not what it should be as a hate crime, many Muslims continue to face Islamophic attacks without the proper compensation or justice served.
With the rise in Islamophic attacks, it is also important to note that the majority of Muslims who do fall prey to these attacks are women, especially those who wear the hijab. Muslim women, who bear both the pride and responsibility of being visibly Muslim for our community are at times the most vulnerable against hate and ignorance. Like Jenan Ayesh, many are attacked for simply being Muslim, and for simply choosing to be openly and unabashedly Muslim.
Jenan however, encompassing the true spirit of Islam, has no ill will against her attacker. “She didn’t need to be afraid of me, and didn’t need to attack me in that way,” Jenan stated at a press conference about her attacker. “I just want to see her understand what I went through and understand that we’re not scary.”
