6-Year-Old Boy Stabbed To Death In US By Landlord In Hate Crime Linked To Israel-Hamas War
New York: In a shocking incident, a 71-year-old man from Illinois killed a Muslim boy and wounded a 32-year-old woman in a hate crime motivated by the Israel-Hamas war. According to the police, the man targeted the victims because of their Islamic faith in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas militants.
Due to the ongoing conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas militants, law enforcement agencies in the United States and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or anti-Muslim sentiments. Jewish and Muslim groups have engaged in hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media platforms.
On Saturday, officers discovered the woman and the boy in a pool of blood at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office. Both were rushed to a nearby hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead by doctors. The woman had multiple stab wounds but is now out of danger, as per the statement. The postmortem examination revealed that the child had multiple stab wounds.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff’s statement said.
As per Will County sheriff’s office, the woman called emergency number 911 and told that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding that she continued fighting with him to save her life.
The man suspected in the inhumane knife attack was arrested on Saturday outside the home and “sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence”.
The man, identified as Joseph M. Czuba, was charged with attempted murder, first-degree murder, hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance.
The names of the both the victims have not been released by the authorities.
“We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are,” said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the US in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher.
The Muslim civil rights organisation described the crime as “our most dreaded scenario,” part of a troubling increase in hate calls and emails following the Israel-Hamas conflict outbreak. The organization pointed to text messages shared among family members, revealing that the assailant had made derogatory comments about Muslims.
“Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over what’s happening to their people,” said Ahmed Rehab, the group’s executive director.