Palestinian-American Boy, 6, Stabbed 26 Times By US Man Because He Was A Muslim

A US landlord was charged with murder and hate crimes Sunday after allegedly fatally stabbing a six-year-old boy and seriously wounding his 32-year-old mother, alleging he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

WillCountySheriff/ CAIRNational

What happened?

According to a statement from the Will County sheriff's office in Illinois, the child, who was stabbed 26 times, died at hospital, but the 32-year-old woman, believed to be his mother, is expected to survive the "heinous" attack.

"He knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, and said, 'you Muslims' must die," Ahmed Rehab, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago office, told reporters, citing text messages sent by the woman to the murdered boy's father from her hospital bed.

Authorities said the woman managed to call 911 as she fought off the landlord, named by the sheriff's office as 71-year-old Joseph Czuba.

"Deputies located two victims inside the residence in a bedroom. Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities," the sheriff's statement said.

A serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade was pulled from the boy's abdomen during the autopsy, the statement said.

When police arrived they found Czuba sitting on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a laceration on his forehead. He was taken to hospital for treatment before being charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of hate crimes.

We are shocked and disturbed to learn that a landlord in Chicago expressing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views broke into a Muslim family's apartment and attacked them with a knife, injuring the mother and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. @cairchicago will hold a¡­ pic.twitter.com/N0ILuevq4n

¡ª CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 15, 2023

Where and when?

The horrific act took place at victims' residence in Illinois on Saturday.

Why?

¡°Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,¡± the Will County Sheriff¡¯s Office in suburban Chicago said in a statement on Sunday.

Who are the victims?

The boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference on Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter CAIR. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who recently had turned 6, and his mother as Hanaan Shahin.

The family ¡°came to America seeking what we all seek¡ªa refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,¡± according to the White House.

Wadea¡¯s mother and father had moved to the United States 12 and nine years ago, respectively, and their son was born here, Rehab said. They were from a village in the West Bank, he said.

Reuters

How did the authorities react?

¡°Our hearts are heavy, and our prayers are with the darling boy and his mother,¡± Rehab said in a statement on their website. The attack was "our worst nightmare," CAIR said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden condemned the killing of the boy as a "horrific act of hate", after authorities charged the man with murder and hate crimes for an attack allegedly linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.

"This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values," added Biden, calling for Americans to ¡°come together and reject Islamaphobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.¡±

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