The mother of the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas 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 murdered on October 14.
“I need justice,” Shahin told ABC News. “How can you live without justice? And how will you be at peace without justice?
The grieving mother, who was also stabbed more than a dozen times in the horrific attack carried out by owner Joseph Czuba, hired 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!” Shanin and her son before stabbing the boy 26 times with a 12-inch military-style knife; He carried out the attack because the family was Muslim, Will County authorities said.
Hanaan Shahin called for peace in his first public comments since his 6-year-old son Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime. Facebook / Hanan Shaheen Wadea was allegedly stabbed to death by owner Joseph Czuba. CAIR/ Handout via REUTERS Czuba allegedly shouted “You Muslims must die!” before the attack. Will County Sheriff/Handout via REUTERS
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to their being Muslim and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. release.
The Justice Department also opened a federal investigation into Al-Fayoume’s death.
The mother and son had lived on the ground floor 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 The mother asked for justice to be done and for people to pray for peace after the murder.
CAIR-Chicago described the stabbings as the Muslim community’s “worst nightmare,” calling them part of a disturbing rise in hate crimes against them after Hamas’ attack on Israel and the Jewish state’s subsequent declaration of war.
The group said the owner “had been angry about what he was seeing 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 taken into custody at the scene and transported to a hospital to treat the cut on his forehead, police said.
Mourners carrying Wadea’s casket after a funeral in Bridgeview, Illinois, on October 16, 2023. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images People placing flowers at Wadea’s grave in LaGrange, Illinois. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh Mourners attend a vigil for Wadea at the Prairie Recreation and Activities Center in Plainfield October 17, 2023.REUTERS/Jim Vondruska
He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Czuba is currently being held at the Will County Adult Detention Center.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn