British Muslim recounts how he stood up for his scarf-wearing sisters

As a Muslim man, it is less likely for you to fall victim to Islamophobia in the West than a Muslim woman, whose hijab makes her a more noticeable target, says Ali Dharas who was recently forced off a plane in Britain along with his two scarf-wearing sisters, amid heightened tensions in Europe in the wake of several terror attacks.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Wednesday, Ali Dharas recounted his ordeal of what was supposed to be an exciting trip with his sisters to the Italian city of Naples from London Stansted Airport via a major British airline, only for them to fall victims to false accusations of being Daesh supporters supposedly by fellow passengers.

Twenty-one-year-old Ali and his two sisters Maryam, 19, and Sakina, 24, had boarded an easyJet flight when they were approached by a cabin crew member and asked to follow her off the plane without explanation.

"I realized as a Muslim male, you can get away with a lot of things. But our sisters in scarves don't have this right," Ali said.

According to Sakina’s Facebook post, the three siblings were then grilled by “gun-wielding policemen and men in suits” for one hour, after a passenger on the flight claimed that they were members of the Daesh Takfiri group. Police officers said the claim was based on passengers seeing “Arabic or praise be to Allah on [their] phone.”

According to Ali, “There was no Arabic anywhere."

Sakina also told the police that, “that's part of the Qur'an, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn't signify that we're a part of ISIS (Daesh) at all, but regardless, we've had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic.” 

EasyJet issued an apology for “any inconvenience caused to the passengers,” but maintained that “if a security concern is raised, [they] will always investigate it as a precautionary measure.”  

Ali said that his sisters were treated more unfairly because they looked visibly Muslim as they were wearing headscarves.

“Pointing your finger at a girl in hijab is absolutely not the answer. If people have reasonable evidence and belief to be suspicious, then they obviously have the right to act on it. But reporting three young adults maliciously, with nothing but lies cannot be condoned or allowed to pass as normal behavior.”

Sakina also said it was only her and her sister who bore the brunt of accusations as her “white-skinned" brother was not under scrutiny.

The mainstream media in the West often portrays Muslims in a negative light and repeatedly accuses them of staying silent after terror attacks are carried out falsely in the name of Islam. Many say Islamophobia in the West is on the rise and peaceful Muslims have to pay the price.

Although the siblings were eventually allowed to go on the flight and proceed with their vacation, the experience has left them deeply shaken, with Ali saying they were even nervous to board the flight back to the UK.

“Obviously, air travel is never going to be the same again, even on the way back from Italy we were so nervous something was going to happen which thankfully didn't. At the time of course, we felt awful. We were just in disbelief.”

Ali also expressed disgust over being mistaken for a Takfiri element particularly because the siblings have been even volunteering in orphanages of victims of Daesh during their trips abroad.

“To be put on the same page as the monsters who call themselves ISIS (Daesh) is nothing shy of the greatest insult.”

Daesh terrorists have gained notoriety for their barbarity, heinous atrocities and sacrilegious acts. The militants have been accused of committing gross human rights violations and war crimes in the areas they control in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

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