‘It Was a Set Up’ TV Channel Accused of Staging Burkini-Clad Woman’s Clash with Locals
Lizzie Stromme, Express, September, 26, 2016
An Australian TV channel has been accused of staging a clash between a burkini-clad woman and French locals.
In a Channel 7 documentary, Zeynab Alshelh was filmed wearing the controversial clothing on the French Riviera.
On the news programme Sunday Night, Ms Alshelh claimed she was confronted and reportedly threatened by angry beachgoers.
She said: “We were threatened by locals to leave the beach and if we didn’t they were going to call the police.
“They weren’t happy with us being there, even though it was on the beach that the burkini ban was overturned but the locals were not happy.
“There shouldn’t be a connection between terrorism and the burkini and there shouldn’t be a connection between terrorism and Islam altogether.”
One elderly woman was also filmed giving the camera a “thumbs down” while a male approached the camera and said: ”You can turn around and leave.”
During the programme medical student Ms Alshelh, from Sydney, added she began wearing the hijab when she was 10.
The programme’s executive producer Hamish Thompson has “denied emphatically” that there was any set up.
He said: “Zeynab was bathing at a beach where the burkini is allowed.
“She sat with her family, away from other bathers, on the beach, where she and her family wanted to swim.
“Our crew positioned themselves on the edge of the beach, in full view of everyone. No hidden cameras were used, at any time.”