The United Nations and Muslims Condemn Killing of Palestinian-American Child
The United Nations and Muslims living in the U.S. condemned the “horrendous killing” of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child, who was fatally stabbed by their landlord in Illinois amid the ongoing anti-Muslim, anti-Palestine propaganda spread by Western media outlets as Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe due to Israel’s brutal attacks and blockade.
U.N. spokesperson calls for action against hate speech
“It’s hard to find the words to condemn enough a crime like that…the horrendous killing of a child, the attempted killing of his mother,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a daily press briefing Monday.
Social media companies urged to stop spreading hate
“I think the Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) was very clear when he spoke on Friday that dehumanizing language that incites violence should never be accepted. And he very clearly called on political leaders everywhere to speak out against anti-Muslim bigotry, to speak out against hate speech, to speak out against antisemitism,” he said.
“Social media companies also have a huge responsibility to play. They should not be in the business of spreading hate, spreading violence messages that incite people to do exactly what that man did in Chicago, and we’re very glad that the suspect has been arrested,” he added.
Details of the attack and charges filed
The assailant, Joseph Czuba, who is the victims’ landlord, carried out the attack on Saturday, and the Will County Sheriff’s Office said that based on a forensic pathologist’s examination, the boy was stabbed 26 times throughout his body.
Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of a hate crime. The U.S. Justice Department has launched a federal hate crime investigation into the tragic murder.
The American-Muslim community reacts with pain and anger
The American-Muslim community is in “a lot of pain and anger” after the tragic murder of 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was brutally stabbed to death in Illinois this weekend, said a CAIR representative on Monday.
Ahmed Rehab, head of the Chicago office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the funeral of the 6-year-old is expected to be “one of the biggest funerals” because “there’s a lot of pain and anger in the community.”
Community blames Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment
According to Rehab, the anger is “not only because of losing this wonderful, angel child, but the conditions that created this.”
“You know, we feel there’s been a fanning of the flames of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment to the degree that someone, a weak-minded person, could have been radicalized into attacking their own neighbors and killing them in this vicious fashion,” he said.
Noting the child’s mother is still in “serious condition,” he said, adding: “And my heart goes out to the mother, most of all because she was the one who witnessed the crime and saw her son in this condition. So she must have mental trauma, in addition to her own serious injuries.”
Rehab said the CAIR is sending letters to schools to ask them to be proactive against anti-Muslim sentiments and it is also working with officials to make sure mosques are safe.
He also criticized the U.S. administration’s “one-sided” statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that those statements “dehumanized” Palestinians, and “helped create this atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-Palestinian sentiment.”
He also accused the U.S. media of its “one-sided” and “very imbalanced” coverage.
Biden condemns the murder, but criticism remains
The assailant, Joseph Czuba, who is the victims’ landlord, carried out the attack on Saturday, and the Will County Sheriff’s Office said that based on a forensic pathologist’s examination, the boy was stabbed 26 times throughout his body.
Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of a hate crime.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday denounced the murder of the boy, although he is one of the figures who fanned the flames by spreading false propaganda. Biden last week said he had seen pictures of beheaded Israeli babies, which was later refuted by the White House.
“(First lady) Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother in their home yesterday in Illinois,” said Biden in a statement.
“This horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are,” he said.
Asked about Biden’s statement, Rehab said he appreciated the statement, but added that Biden’s other statements that were issued so far “have dehumanized people.”
“It’s easy to condemn something like this. I don’t think anybody can ever defend it. But what we needed from him was real leadership in that creating conditions that allow for things like this to have said the right thing rather than the easy thing when it comes to Gaza and Palestinian lives,” he said.