UK: McDonald's asks Muslim woman to remove headscarf

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Fast-food chain McDonald’s apologized after a video surfaced Friday on Twitter of a 19-year-old Muslim student being refused entry because of her headscarf.

The video, posted by a friend of the woman who preferred to remain anonymous, shows a security guard asking her to remove her hijab.

She refused and used her phone to film the incident, which took place at a north London branch of the restaurant on Seven Sisters Road in Holloway district.

The short clip shows the security guard repeatedly asking her to remove the headscarf after blocking her from entering the restaurant.

She asks the guard why she cannot enter the McDonald’s, but he says “it’s just a matter of taking it off.”

The video continues with her response.

“It’s not just a matter of taking it off. I wear this for religious reasons and I’m not ashamed of it, and I will stand in line and I will get the food I want because this isn’t OK,” she says.

‘It’s finally happening to me, like it has to so many hijabis,” she told The Guardian newspaper.

“It didn’t feel real because I had seen so many videos like this, and it was finally happening to me in real life. I was in so much disbelief.

“The friend I was with was shocked and scared and said it was a risky situation. When it was over, I finally realized how these situations can become dangerous. This is not a one-off thing,” she said.

“I will never walk into a McDonald’s again.”

McDonald’s “does not have a policy in place which restricts or prevents anyone wearing a hijab, or any other religious dress, from entering one of its restaurants,” a spokeswoman for the chain said.

“We welcome customers of all faiths and would like to apologize to the customer, as this situation should not have taken place,” she said.

"We are taking this matter extremely seriously and are addressing this with the individuals involved."