6-year-old Muslim boy fatally stabbed in Illinois hate crime amid Israel-Hamas war
The suspect, a 71-year-old landlord, was charged with murder and hate crimes
Crime scene barricade via iStock. Photo by AzmanL
By Jacob Kornbluh October 15, 2023
A 6-year-old Muslim boy outside Chicago is thought to be the first victim on U.S. soil of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Will County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday that Joseph Czuba, a 71-year-old landlord, stabbed the child, identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, 26 times, and also attacked his mother, 32, who rented the apartment in Plainfield Township, Illinois, on Saturday morning. The boy was pronounced dead at a local hospital and the woman was expected to survive.
Although Czuba did not say what his motives were, detectives determined based on the information they gathered that he had targeted the victims “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Will County sheriff’s office said. Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
In a statement, President Biden said, “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.”
He added that, “The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek — a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace. 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.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish, condemned the attack, calling it “nothing short of evil.”
“This wasn’t just a murder — it was a hate crime,” he said in a statement. The boy had celebrated his birthday weeks before his death. The family moved to the U.S. more than a decade ago from a village in the West Bank, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
FBI Director Christopher Wray disclosed in a call with reporters on Sunday that threats against both Jews and Muslims in the U.S. have surged since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israeli operation in Gaza. Both France and England have also seen a rise in antisemitic incidents in the past week.
“The threat is very much ongoing and, in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve,” Wray said. “Here in the U.S., we cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organizations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks on our own soil.”
Wray said the FBI is “on the lookout” for lone actors who may take inspiration from the events in the Mideast. He added that the reported threats are against Jewish institutions, houses of worship and Muslim centers. The bureau is “moving quickly to mitigate” them through the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, Wray said.
Jewish institutions were on high alert on Friday after rumors circulated of a proposed “day of rage.
“We will not tolerate violence motivated by hate and extremism,” Wray said.
Editor’s note: This post was updated with more details, and clarified that the boy lived in Plainfield Township, Illinois, and not in Chicago.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
