A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was fatally stabbed by his landlord in an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war was likely trying to “give his attacker a hug” when he was murdered, according to his devastated father.
Joseph Czuba, 71, was arrested on Saturday morning after allegedly stabbing six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume 26 times and the little boy’s 32-year-old mother Hanaan Shahin more than 12 times in a shocking attack at a property in Plainfield Township, outside Chicago.
Police said that the boy and his mother were “targeted” due to their Muslim faith and the “on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis”.
Mr Czuba was charged with a hate crime, as well as first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery.
Now the boy’s heartbroken father, Oday El-Fayoume, has spoken out about his son’s horrifying death, claiming his ex-wife and son had a “good relationship” with their landlord and that his son was likely running towards Czuba to “give him a hug” when he was attacked.
“It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son,” he told The Daily Beast. “I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug.”
He said Mr Czuba lived on the ground floor of the home the six-year-old and his mother lived in, and he had even built a treehouse and an indoor play area for the child.
Mr El-Fayoume added that he “cannot believe” how his son’s murder could have happened, describing the six-year-old as “a small angel in the form of a person”.
Little Wadea never yelled out during the stabbing, his father said, with his last words offering reassurance to his mother that “I’m fine,” said Mr El-Fayoume.
The devastated father added that he found out about the death of his son after receiving a call from police.
Wadea Al-Fayoume stabbed to death outside Chicago— (CAIR-Chicago)
“The way I found out wasn’t the right way to tell a parent. I got a call from the police department, and they gave me three sentences exactly: ‘Are you Oday El-Fayoume? Are you Wadea’s father? He has been killed.’ That’s how I found out,” he said.
“It was such a shock that I thought maybe I misheard. So I asked them: He died? And they said ‘No, he had been killed.’”
He added: “It all felt like torture. The reasons that led to the killing… we had no information about that for four hours. Those four hours felt like 40 years.”
Will County Sheriff’s Office said that the boy’s mother called 911 on Saturday morning saying she was being attacked by her landlord.
According to Ms Shahin, Mr Czuba knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, before shouting “You Muslims must die” and stabbing her.
Deputies arrived at the scene and found a military-style knife and the suspect sitting on the ground near the home.
The six-year-old was rushed to hospital but later died. His mother remains in a serious condition but is expected to survive.
Joseph Czuba has been charged with one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery, and two counts of hate crime— (Will County Sheriff)
The suspect was transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility and is awaiting his initial court appearance.
The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, identified Wadea as being a Palestinian-American.
The organisation claimed the mother sent the boy’s father text messages during the attack, in which she said that the suspect shouted “You Muslims must die” before stabbing her and her son.
“What we have is a murdered Palestinian child by someone who is radicalized by the environment in which we live right now, that casts Palestinians as human animals,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago told reporters in a press conference on Sunday.
CAIR-Chicago said it has seen a spike in hate calls and emails since the violence in the Middle East broke out on 7 October.
The boy’s father said he wants his son to be remembered as a “symbol” for the Palestinian people.
Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday— (AP)
“People know that we, too, get discriminated against,” he said, referring to Palestinians in Gaza and abroad. “I want this to open a door for the freedom of the Palestinian people.”
In a statement released on Sunday, President Joe Biden said that he was “shocked and sickened” by the little boy’s killing.
“The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” the statement said.
“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.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish anti-hate organisation, has also strongly condemned the incident.
“We’re disgusted and horrified that a 6-year-old boy was murdered and his mother was severely injured in #Plainfield, IL, allegedly because they are Muslim. We express our condolences to the Muslim community and categorically reject all anti-Muslim hate,” the group said in a statement.
