Muslim woman told to remove hijab in McDonald’s

On Thursday 30 November, a 19 year-old Muslim woman was told to remove her hijab by a McDonald’s security guard on Seven Sisters Road in North London.

 

The young woman reported that the security guard stopped her and said that her hijab was a security threat, insisting that she take it off.

 

When the woman refused to remove her hijab, she started to film the interaction with the security guard.

 

In the video, the woman says to the guard, “It’s not just a matter of taking it off. I wear this for religious reasons and I’m not ashamed of it, and I will stand in line and I will get the food I want, because this isn’t OK.”

 

A bystander then intervenes and says to the guard that he can’t stop the woman from coming into McDonald’s.

 

The woman, who has lived in the UK for 19 years, told the Guardian that she felt a sense of shock in the face of discrimination.

 

The video of the confrontation has been shared thousands of times online.

 

In response to the incident, a McDonald’s spokesperson said, “We welcome customers of all faiths and would like to apologise to the customer as this situation should not have taken place. We are taking this matter extremely seriously and are addressing this with the individuals involved.”

 

Islington Town Hall leader Councillor Richard Watts said to the Islington Tribune, “What happened is disgraceful and blatant discrimination which is utterly unacceptable. We have asked the police to investigate whether this is an offence which falls under hate crime legislation. We are looking at a whole lot of options at the council to hold McDonald’s to account to ensure disgraceful scenes like this are never repeated.”

 

To report an incident of Islamophobia, click here.

 

To learn how to respond to hate crime in Islington, click here.