Rabat – CCTV has captured footage of a malicious attack on Moroccan Muslims on December 30, 2018, near Brussels.
The footage shows a middle-aged woman and her daughter, carrying shopping bags and walking down the street when a hooded passerby punches the mother’s face and then flees.
The woman could be seen screaming and falling to the ground in panic until a passing car stopped. The driver checked on the woman, who seemingly started to describe the attack.
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The Belgian news outlet La Capitale reported that the victim is a 47-year-old woman named Fatiha, of Moroccan origin. Fatiha is now calling on Belgian authorities to find her attacker and bring him to justice.
Fatiha also told La Capitale that her attacker was carrying a taser. Police have yet to find the suspect.
The video of the attack has gone viral, sparking anger and condemnation on social media, with commenters deeming the attack “a shameful act of Islamophobia.”
Brussels has become notorious for Islamophobic attacks, especially against Muslim women who wear headscarves.
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In 2017, 76 percent of Islamophobic attacks in Belgium targeted women, according to data gathered from victims by a local anti-Islamophobia association.
One of the most disturbing manifestations of Islamophobia in Europe emerged in March 2018, when hundreds of letters were anonymously sent to citizens in the UK, calling for “Punish a Muslim Day.”
The identical letters encouraged people to carry out violence against Muslims.
After a long investigation, police determined the letters came from David Parnham, a UK national, whom police arrested in June. Police found Parnham’s fingerprints on the letters.
The letters were part of a larger campaign carried out over two years in which Parham also orchestrated a bomb threat and mailed white powder, treated as a poisonous substance, to public figures, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May.
