The so‐called Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin (Maltese patriots) – an anti-Islam racist group – has proved that ignorance knows no bounds by harassing a 19‐old Maltese Muslim woman who is doing her utmost to eliminate religious intolerance in Malta.

Sara Ezabe, a law student, raised the group’s ire for promoting equality in Maltese society together with a black friend of hers.

Ms Ezabe recently had her efforts rewarded and she will receive the Queen’s Young Leader Award, which recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the Commonwealth who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives. 

The affable Ms Ezabe, who has a Libyan father and a Maltese mother, speaks frankly about the discrimination she faces on a daily basis, which centres on her religion and the fact that she wears a hijab.

She has faced harassment by the Maltese ‘patriots’ and even received threats to her life due to her religious beliefs, as well at being spat at and discriminated against at University.

“The Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin have abused me personally and uploaded my picture on their Facebook page,” she says.

Ms Ezabe explains that it is very difficult to report such instances of religious intolerance, and she has been given the run-around by the police in the past.

She says the process for reporting discrimination at University is so complicated that it puts people off from filing a report.

She also regularly hears people speaking about her in Maltese, thinking that she will not understand what is being said because she is a “foreigner”.

All this is a lot to take on board for a 19-year-old, but Ms Ezabe is in no way deterred from continuing her social activism.

She says not wearing her hijab anymore would be the “easy way out”, and she has no intention of letting religious bigots dictate her faith.

She intends to use the Queen’s Young Leader Award as a platform to continue promoting equality and striving to quash religious intolerance in Malta.

Ms Ezabe recognises the government’s efforts to promote equality, though feels that the problem of religious intolerance has been overlooked in this predominantly Christian country.

The award comes with a leadership mentoring scheme run by Cambridge University, which Ms Ezabe feels will prove invaluable in her mission to promote equality.