The US President Joe Biden expressed his shock and sorrow over the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian boy and the attempted murder of his mother in their home in Illinois.
On Saturday, a 71-year-old Illinois man fatally stabbed the boy and seriously wounded his 32-year-old mother, targeting them for their Muslim faith amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas, according to police.
“Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother in their home yesterday in Illinois,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, he 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,” Biden said.
He also called on Americans to unite and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.
“I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone,” he said.
Biden offered his condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mother’s recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities.
The suspect, Joseph Czuba, was the landlord of the victims, who lived on the ground floor of his home in Plainfield Township.
On Saturday morning, he allegedly knocked on their door and attacked them with a large military-style knife, shouting, “You Muslims must die!” at them, as the boy’s father learned from text messages.
The boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American, died from 26 stab wounds, while his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, survived with more than a dozen stab wounds. She was in critical condition but expected to recover.
