4 The Courier sun • NOVEMBER 17, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com AFTER THE ELECTION Two bigots harass a hijab-wearing Muslim woman as she rode a bus in Bellerose By Robert Pozarycki [email protected]/@robbpoz A young Muslim woman says she was harassed by two people while riding a bus in Bellerose on Thursday because she wore her hijab. Fariha Nizam described her experience on board the Q43 bus on the morning of Nov. 10, in a lengthy Facebook post that has been shared more than 1,500 times as of Saturday morning. Nizam’s ordeal was one in a host of reported incidents of harassment of Muslims, African-Americans, Hispanics, members of the LGBT community and others since Donald Trump was elected to the presidency. This included the alleged harassment of public school students by pupils from St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, an incident that the school’s principal publicly condemned. Regarding the incident involving Nizam, the young resident said she was riding the bus en route to her internship when a couple whom she described as white and possibly “middle-aged and elderly” boarded the bus and came toward her. “The two of them started yelling at me, shouting to me to take off my hijab,” Nizam wrote, referring to the traditional headdress many Muslim women wear, “yelling that it is not allowed anymore.” She burst into tears, but the couple continued their yelling: “They started yelling at me and telling me to take off the disgusting piece Fariza Niham (inset) says she was harassed by two passengers on board a Q43 bus in Bellerose because she was wearing a hijab. of cloth on my head, saying that it wasn’t allowed anymore.” Other passengers on board the bus began yelling at the couple to leave her alone “and people began fighting,” according to Nizam. The woman who initially yelled at her then came close and attempted to grab the hijab off Nizam’s head. Nizam eventually got off the bus in tears and walked home. “I never imagined, not even for one f***ing moment in my life, that peace of mind is not a basic human right,” Nizam wrote. “I never imagined that security and safety were asking too much of a country that claims to be oh so concerned with opportunity, liberty and love.” She went on to state that she would never forgive those who voted for Trump — who has proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States — for stirring up the hatred that resulted in her Screenshot via YouTube/Inset via Facebook being harassed for being Muslim. “I used to be so happy to call myself a Bengali-American, or a Muslim-American, or an American woman. YOU have stripped me of my identity to its core,” she wrote. “You have violated each and every part of the person that I am, my beautiful religion, my perfect gender identity, and my lovely position as the daughter of immigrants.” Gothamist first reported the story. Ulrich to Trump protesters: ‘Get over it!’ By Robert Pozarycki [email protected]/@robbpoz Despite what Councilman Eric Ulrich tweeted, many people aren’t ready to “get over” Donald Trump being elected as the nation’s next president. Ulrich, a Republican who represents much of southwest Queens and is flirting with a run for mayor next year, took to Twitter on Nov. 9 to speak out about a protest against the impending Trump presidency in Manhattan’s Union Square. “The protesters in NYC tonight are the leftovers from the Occupy Wall Street and the antipolice demonstrations. Trump won. Get over it!” Ulrich tweeted at 10:15 p.m. on Nov. 9. Ulrich’s post received a host of angry comments from those anxious about what Trump — who campaigned to deport illegal immigrants and ban Muslims (the latter of which has since disappeared from his campaign website, but was later restored), and received the support of white nationalist groups — would do when he assumes the Oval Office in January. “Get over it? Millions of marginalized people are now at risk, but sure, we should just get over it,” Kim Moscaritolo, a Democratic district leader from upstate New York tweeted back at Ulrich, who then responded: “channel your frustration & beat him at the ballot box. Take a page out of President Obama’s speech today and be gracious in defeat.” Others such as John Maier of Ridgewood emphasized that the protesters did have the right to speak out en masse: “it’s still a free country, get over it. #ListenToTheMajority they were the popular vote.” The hashtag referenced that while Trump won the electoral vote, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton seems to have won the popular vote nationwide. It’s the second time since 2000 that the electoral vote winner lost the popular vote. Ulrich, the lone Republican City Council member from Queens, opposed Trump’s candidacy early on in the race; he supported Ohio Governor John Kasich during the Republican primary process. The council member also previously denounced Trump’s rhetoric; he criticized Trump’s claim last year that Arizona Senator John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured. After that remark, Ulrich publicly called on Jamaica Hospital to remove the Trump name from one of its buildings. In a statement on Wednesday, he congratulated the new president, adding, “I am very proud to be an American, even when I disagree with my President or sometimes even my own party. But now that the campaign is over hopefully we can move forward with open minds and hearts, realizing that we’re stronger when we are united.” Ulrich’s district includes some of the handful of neighborhoods where the majority of voters went for Trump, including Howard Beach, Broad Channel and the western Rockaways.
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