Last month, two Egyptian actresses were harassed in the streets of Budapest, Hungary, simply for being hijabis.
The incident occurred during the shooting of a scene tackling Islamophobia in the West for their Ramadan show Foq El Sahab - meaning "Over the Clouds."
The victims, Heba and Mona Abdul Ghani, were wearing the traditional Islamic veil while in a park in Budapest as part of the scene they were recording.
The latter scene was about both actresses walking down the street while donning the hijab when suddenly a Hungarian man abruptly pulls over his car and heads towards them angrily.
He rips off one of their hijabs, and as they try to go after him, he shouts at them to leave before he takes off violently.
During the shooting, what was fiction at first, turned into a real-life incident. A local, who seemed of old age, verbally attacked both actresses for the headscarves they were wearing.
He pointed at their hijab and asked what they were wearing and why, to which one of them replied "I'm free" to wear whatever she wants.
Even though they explained to him that they were filming, asked him to leave, and asked their driver who's also a local to talk to him, the Islamophobe remained persistent.
He also physically assaulted the driver even though the latter explained he will call the police.
Here is the full video where the two actresses narrate what happened
Heba Abdul Ghani - the one who was attacked in the scene - explained how she doesn't wear a hijab in real life but the unfortunate situation reflected the true xenophobia towards Muslims in the West.
"In first world countries they are supposed to support freedom of choice ... I accept seeing two men kissing on the street and women walking in bikinis because I'm forced to respect their freedom, but he doesn't respect that I'm doing my job while I am veiled," she said in the video.
Islamphobia in the West
Islamophobia isn't all new in Europe, as many Muslims have> fallen victims of physical injuries and acid attacks.
In 2009, Marwa el-Sherbini, an Egyptian hijabi and mother of one, was stabbed 18 times by a German man... in the middle of a German courtroom and in front of her husband and three-year-old son.
El Sherbini was called "The Headscarf Martyr" in Egypt, while European news didn't care to cover the Islamophobia part of the story, but rather focused on the loose security and control in an establishment such as a courtroom.
In 2017, a series of >acid attacks hit Muslims residing in London, leading to horrific injuries and for them to >fear for their lives.