On Saturday morning, October 14, 2023, a six-year-old boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother Hanaan Shahin, 32, were stabbed in their home, allegedly by their landlord whose motives appear to have been inspired by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the threats of a 'global day of jihad' that the head of Hamas called for from Quatar. Tragically, the little boy succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A man stabbed a child to death and critically injured a woman in the southern suburbs on Saturday morning because they are Muslim, the Will County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday. https://t.co/gQKd8T8l4b
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) October 15, 2023
ABC7 Chicago reports that the suspect is 71-year-old Joseph M. Czuba.
When Will County Sheriff's Office deputies and Plainfield Police Department officers arrived, they found a 71-year-old suspect sitting upright on the ground, near the home's driveway. He had a cut on his forehead, and was later transported to a local hospital.
Young Wadea was reportedly stabbed 26 times, and his mother over a dozen times. Shahin reported that Czuba had confronted her prior to the attack, bizarrely angry with her for the escalating conflict in Israel and Gaza. Czuba's wife also reported to authorities that he had told her he wanted to evict the family and that he 'believed that they were in danger and that Shahin was going to call over her Palestinian friends or family to harm them.'
Naturally, Twitter/X users found something to band together on in this senseless and vicious attack.
This is absolutely horrific! No person who has a soul can justify this murder- we should not tolerate any hate crime - Islamophobia or antisemitism. I am heartbroken at the loss of this child and other children dying unnecessarily because of this conflict. https://t.co/ZhLyUrVL0E
— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) October 16, 2023
I’m disgusted by this horrific violent hate crime that targeted an innocent Illinois mother and child because they are Muslim.
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 16, 2023
I condemn the barbaric, cold-blooded murder of six year old Wadea Al-Fayoume and hope the bigoted attacker is brought to justice. https://t.co/mc8EOkMeoE
This bigoted, senseless attack that took the life of a child and has his mother in critical condition is despicable. Hate has no home in Illinois.
— Rep. Sean Casten (@RepCasten) October 16, 2023
My heart is with the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume, and my thoughts are with his mother as she recovers. https://t.co/X9dEHv7xOL
We agree that innocent children being murdered out of irrational fears due to their ethnicity or religion is absolutely abhorrent. We cannot condemn what was done to this little boy strongly enough. What makes it all the more heartbreaking is that the boy's father stated that Czuba would bring the boy toys. He even built him a tree house and allowed him to swim in a makeshift pool.
I’m so glad the murderer is in custody. I am heart-broken at the lives he destroyed.
— Susan Bender Phelps Childcare 4 All 🇺🇸🏳️🌈🇺🇦 (@OdysseyMentor) October 16, 2023
As a Jew and a supporter of Israel I condemn this horrible, Islamophobic act of violence against an innocent child.
— (((My Jewniverse))) 🇮🇱 (@MyJewniverse) October 16, 2023
See? It’s not difficult to condemn evil. You just need to be a normal human being.
It's just that simple.
Naturally, a lot of users have also placed blame on our government leaders and the media for spreading 'hateful propaganda', and some have even made comparisons to the anti-Muslim sentiments that we did see after 9/11.
In America right now there’s a very strong narrative being shoved down our throats that’s one sided. One that is very reminiscent for myself of post 9-11 terror rhetoric. That is something I personally am bothered by and I find very worrisome due to how it previously emboldened…
— dilley (@DilleyCouture) October 15, 2023
The full text of Dilley's posts reads:
In America right now there’s a very strong narrative being shoved down our throats that’s one sided. One that is very reminiscent for myself of post 9-11 terror rhetoric. That is something I personally am bothered by and I find very worrisome due to how it previously emboldened a population of hate. We need moral clarity and critical thinking, this is v v sadge
Right wing extremism and hatred, fueled by propaganda media sites. Feeding lies about groups of people to weak minded fools who choose not to know any better. There has to be a way to stop this perpetuation of hate based on lies. Disgusting.
— Math is Life☮️ (@MathisLife12) October 16, 2023
Regardless of where you land on this, that little boy should still be alive today.
Reportedly, his last words to his mother were 'Mom, I'm fine.' Our hearts and prayers here at Twitchy go out to this little boy and his family and friends.
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