(JTA) — The Jewish man whose family was attacked with anti-Semitic abuse on the London Underground met the Muslim woman who confronted their attacker.
Asma Shuweikh, a Muslim mother of two who wears a hijab, met on Monday in Manchester with the father, who remains unnamed. He had told the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism after the Friday incident that he wanted to meet Shuweikh in person in order to thank her. He brought her a bouquet of flowers and they had coffee together, the London-based Jewish News reported. They agreed to stay in touch, Shuweikh told the news website.
The attacker, in a tirade caught on video, told the family during the Friday ride that they are members of “the Church of Satan,” and said that Jews were behind the slave trade and the 9-11 attacks.
The Jewish father remained calm and ignored the man, though at least one of his young sons looked uncomfortable.
The unnamed aggressor was arrested on Saturday and charged with an alleged racially aggravated public order offense.
“I tried to bring him down to a level where you can have a conversation so he doesn’t go back to the Jewish family that were on the train,” said Shuweikh. “I’m a mother and I thought if I were with my children, I would want someone to intervene, and the poor man was trying to keep calm for his children.”
She said she has been the victim of Islamophobic attacks in the past.
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