The mother of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime following the start of the Israel-Hamas war earlier this month made a desperate plea for peace in her first public comments.
Hanaan Shahin, 32, remembered her son as an angel and pleaded for world peace on Wednesday as she spoke for the first time since little Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed on October 14.
“I need justice,” Shahin told ABC News. “How can you live without justice? And how will you be in peace without justice?”
The grieving mother, who was also stabbed more than a dozen times in the gruesome attack by landlord Joseph Czuba, retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
“Pray for peace,” Shahin said. “We need many, many prayers for peace. You know, and then God will give us peace. We need to pray for peace.”
Czuba, 71 – who allegedly shouted, “You Muslims must die!” on Shanin and her son before stabbing the boy 26 times with a 12-inch military-style knife — carrying out the attack because the family was Muslim, authorities in Will County said.
Hanaan Shahin called for peace in her first public comments since her 6-year-old son Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime.Facebook / Hanan A Shaheen Wadea was allegedly stabbed to death by landlord Joseph Czuba. CAIR/ Circulation via REUTERS Czuba allegedly screamed “You Muslims must die!” before the attack.Will County Sheriff/Handout via REUTERS
“Detectives were able to determine that the two victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because they are Muslim and the ongoing Middle East conflict involving Hamas and Israel,” the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The Justice Department has also opened a federal investigation into Al-Fayoume’s death.
The mother and son had lived in the basement of Czuba’s home for about two years, according to the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which condemned the violence.
Shahin was stabbed more than a dozen times in the attack.Facebook / Hanan A Shaheen Mother called for justice and people to pray for peace following the murder.Family Distribution
CAIR-Chicago described the stabbing as the Muslim community’s “worst nightmare,” calling it part of an alarming spike in hate crimes targeting them after Hamas’ attacks on Israel and the Jewish state’s declaration of war.
The group said the host “had been angered by what he saw on the news” and launched his attack on the mother and son, with whom he previously had a “good relationship”, according to the boy’s father.
Czuba was arrested at the scene and taken to a hospital for treatment of a wound to his forehead, police said.
Mourners carry Wadea’s casket after a funeral service in Bridgeview, Illinois on October 16, 2023. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images People place flowers at Wadea’s memorial in LaGrange, Illinois. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh Mourners attend a vigil for Wadea at the Prairie Activity & Recreation Center in Plainfield on October 17, 2023.REUTERS/Jim Vondruska
He is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Czuba is currently being held at the Will County Adult Detention facility.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
