Post by Focus on Jun 19, 2013 15:17:26 GMT
* Lauren Booth said she has felt 'scared' in public after the Lee Rigby killing
* She said she wasn't treated differently when she first went out in traditional Islamic dress,
but it has changed in the wake of the Woolwich killing
* Half-sister of Cherie Blair converted to Islam two years ago
* Miss Booth attacks Tony Blair for saying there is a 'problem within Islam'
Tony Blair's Muslim convert sister-in-law Lauren Booth said today she is scared of being attacked by men on public transport following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.
Scared : Lauren Booth said 'grown men looking like they want to hit Muslim women' on public transport after the murder of Lee Rigby
Miss Booth said that after the soldier was brutally hacked to death in Woolwich she has seen 'grown men looking like they want to hit Muslim women' when she is travelling in London.
The 45-year-old half-sister of Cherie Blair ventures out in traditional Islamic dress and wears a hijab head-covering.
She converted to Islam two years ago and married Sohale Ahmed, 49, in a Muslim ceremony earlier this year.
Miss Booth, wearing a patterned hijab, said on ITV's Daybreak this morning that when she converted two years ago she was not treated any differently.
But in the aftermath of the murder of Lee Rigby close to Woolwich Barracks in south-east London last month she said that has changed.
'When I came to Islam two years ago and I first put on the scarf I was nervous about going on the Underground, I thought everyone is going to see me differently, and everyone was beautiful towards me,' she said.
'I was invisible for a few weeks and then I noticed that British people were smiling, same as we always do, we're really good at that, we're really good at absorbing and accepting people.
'But honestly, in the last two weeks I've been getting public transport and there are grown men looking like they want to hit Muslim women, and I'm a tall, white woman, I'm not easily threatened, but I have felt scared at times, so there is a change unfortunately.'
Drummer Lee Rigby was walking back to his barracks while wearing a Help For Heroes top when he was targeted last month.
The young soldier from the Second Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who had served in Afghanistan as a machine gunner, was the father of a two-year-old boy.
Convert : Lauren Booth, seen here on ITV's Daybreak this morning, converted to Islam two years ago. She said she was treated no differently in public after her conversion - but there has been a change after the Woolwich killing
Convert : Lauren Booth, 45, and her new husband Sohale Ahmed, 49. They married in a Muslim ceremony earlier this year
Family : Lauren Booth is the half-sister of former Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie
In the aftermath of the killing, an Islamic centre was burned down in Muswell Hill, north London, and an Islamic school in Chislehurst, Kent, in suspected reprisals against Muslims.
Although the attacks have been roundly condemned, Miss Booth said that she has been made to feel uncomfortable in public because of her religion.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said there is a 'problem within Islam' which allows the seeds of extremism to be sown in the wake of the killing.
Asked if he was right, Miss Booth responded: 'Absolutely not, and I think it's very dangerous to take a summary of a religion from a man who's overseen the invasion of several Muslim countries, and overseen a war where a million people whom are Muslim have been killed and millions displaced, so I wouldn't take that as a kind of basis for any information on Islam.'
Since converting to Islam, Miss Booth said her life is 'peaceful'.
She added: 'We say it's a clean life, no drinking, I don't go out to pubs, you're more spiritual and calmer, and hopefully kinder with people, that's what it's all about, doing good at a community level.'
Killing : Drummer Lee Rigby who died in Woolwich last month. Two people have been charged with murdering the father-of-one
Michael Adebolajo, 28, of Romford, and Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, have both been charged with murder following the killing of Lee Rigby on May 22.
They have been remanded in custody.
Well I'm sorry but what did the silly mare expect ffs??? - Fx
