When video went viral of a racist attack on a Muslim street food vendor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians wondered gloomily: had their country also been swept up in a global wave of xenophobia? The answer -- a flood of love transforming the humble vendor into a folk hero and, on Thursday, the recipient of a Rio state award -- was a heartwarming no. It all began August 3 when Mohamed Ali Abdelmoatty Kenawy, 33, was manning the cart from which he sells Arab-style meat pies and hummus in the thronging center of Copacabana.
When video went viral of a racist attack on a Muslim street food vendor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians wondered gloomily: had their country also been swept up in a global wave of xenophobia? The answer -- a flood of love transforming the humble vendor into a folk hero and, on Thursday, the recipient of a Rio state award -- was a heartwarming no. It all began August 3 when Mohamed Ali Abdelmoatty Kenawy, 33, was manning the cart from which he sells Arab-style meat pies and hummus in the thronging center of Copacabana.
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