Community members pray during the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, at the Mosque Foundation, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images
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Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images
Community members pray during the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, at the Mosque Foundation, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images
Mourners gathered outside Chicago on Monday for the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was stabbed to death at his home late last week in the part of an anti-Muslim hate crime.
Authorities say the family’s landlord, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, attacked Wadea and her mother because they were Muslims. Illinois prosecutors have charged Czuba with hate crimes and other offenses.
Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, was seriously injured in the Saturday morning attack in unincorporated Plainfield Township, but is expected to survive.
A prayer service was held Monday afternoon at a mosque in Bridgeview, Illinois, drawing dozens of mourners, some of whom waved Palestinian flags, WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko reported.
Muslim religious leaders who addressed the crowd denounced what they see as biased media coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas, Savchenko noted, and condemned the stabbing attacks as an assault on all Muslims .
“When this individual said, ‘You Muslims must die,’ that was not a message to the boy or the mother,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. . said at a press conference. “It was for all of us. We were all stabbed that day.”
Rehab also said Wadea’s parents did not suspect before the attack that Czuba would become violent.
“The father says that [Czuba] “I had built the boy a tree house, allowed him to swim in a makeshift pool and brought him toys, but it wasn’t until he started watching the news and hearing the statements that something has changed,” Rehab added.
The stabbing attacks come a week after the start of the bloody war between Israel and Hamas, with US officials warning that the conflict thousands of miles from home could lead to increased threats against Jews and Muslims at home .
Wadea’s killing drew widespread condemnation from elected officials, from President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who attended the funeral.
“As governor of Illinois, I condemn intolerance and violence. I will not remain silent in the face of this evil in any form,” he added. Pritzker said.
Suspect makes first court appearance
Also Monday, Czuba made his first appearance in Will County Court, where he was informed of the eight charges he faces, including murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes.
A judge ordered Czuba to remain behind bars. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing scheduled for October 30.
Neither the Will County State’s Attorney nor the Will County Public Defender’s Office responded to NPR’s request for comment.
Prosecutors at the hearing said Czuba listened to news about the war between Israel and Hamas on conservative radio stations and became increasingly concerned for his safety, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Czuba’s wife reportedly told investigators that her husband thought Shahin was “going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” the outlet reported.
The Justice Department also opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the attack.