A Muslim woman from Queens is suing the Associated Press over a photograph that was taken of her wearing a hijab– because the unauthorized image was later included in a controversial opinion article about headscarves.
Fifi Youssef was at Starbucks during a work break Dec. 16 when the AP’s Mark Lennihan quietly photographed the young woman with her head down, looking at her phone.
The AP uploaded the image onto its Web site for “editorial use” by other news outlets with the keywords “hijab, Muslim, Islam,” according to court papers.
Youssef, 22, didn’t notice the photographer– and only realized her image had been captured when it led a Dec. 21 Washington Post piece encouraging Muslim women not to wear the hijab because it stands for an ideology the “silences women” and “absolves men of sexually harassing women.”
The article has over 1,000 comments and was widely shared across social media. The suit notes that one of the “inflammatory comments” reads: “It is against my religion to have to look at [a woman wearing a hijab] because it reminds me of a religion that does not allow women to hold a job, drive a car, vote, walk out in public unescorted, get a decent education, etc.”
The op/ed “clearly attacks her fundamental beliefs,” the research assistant says in her Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Youssef, a John Jay College student from Glendale, is not identified by name in the photo.
Her LinkedIn page says, “I’m a strong, hard working young female who is dedicated to achieving all my goals.”
The Dean’s List student has taught Arabic to young children at the Al Rahman Islamic School in Manhattan and also volunteered at the Greenpoint Islamic Center in Brooklyn.
She is suing for unspecified damages.
An AP spokesman did not immediately return messages for comment.