According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website):The police said the attacker targeted the family on Saturday because of their Muslim faith and the ongoing war between the Israeli regime and Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.
The boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, were attacked by Joseph Czuba, 71, who entered their home with a 12-inch military knife. Shahin managed to call 911 from the bathroom, but when she came out, she found her son with a knife in his body.
He had been stabbed 26 times. She also said that Czuba shouted “You Muslims must die!” during the attack.
Shahin is in serious condition at the hospital. Her son, who had just celebrated his sixth birthday and loved “everyone and everything”, was pronounced dead.
Czuba was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, hate crime, and aggravated battery.
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights group, held a press conference on Sunday with the boy’s family. Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of CAIR’s Chicago chapter, blamed the attack on the hateful atmosphere created by the media and politicians. He said that Czuba was “radicalized and brainwashed” by the biased coverage of the violence in Palestine and Israel.
He also warned that the country was heading towards a situation similar to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when Muslims faced discrimination and violence. He said that Wadea had nothing to do with the larger issues in the world, but he paid the price for them.
The war in the Gaza Strip has escalated since last weekend, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on the occupying force with rockets and commandos. The regime responded with airstrikes and shelling on Gaza, killing more than 2,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children. More than 1,300 Israelis have also been killed and more than 100 have been captured by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
The conflict has also sparked attacks on Muslims and Palestinians in the US. On October 11, a group of men waving Israeli flags assaulted an 18-year-old Palestinian man in Brooklyn. They punched him after shouting anti-Palestinian slurs. On the same night, two men snatched a Palestinian flag from two other men in Brooklyn and hit one of them with it. The police are investigating both incidents as hate crimes.
Source: Agencies
