(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/16/23) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for an end to “dehumanizing anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian bigotry” in politics and media following the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and the wounding of his mother reportedly because the family is Muslim.
CAIR also welcomed a U.S. Justice Department hate crime investigation of the stabbing death.
Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Officials say the victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
SEE: Justice Department opens federal hate crime investigation into fatal stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/16/us/chicago-muslim-boy-stabbing-investigation/index.html
“We welcome the federal hate crime investigation and hope this tragic case will remind public officials and commentators why they must end dehumanizing anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian bigotry when speaking out about the ongoing violence in the Middle East,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “Media outlets, political leaders and major corporations have spent more than a week ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people, justifying war crimes against Palestinians, and spreading inflammatory propaganda and misinformation aimed at Muslims and Palestinians here in America. This must end. Now.”
BACKGROUNDER ON RECENT ANTI-PALESTINIAN, ISLAMOPHOBIC INCIDENTS:
CAIR-Chicago decried the reported stabbing death of an eight-year-old Palestinian-American boy and the stabbing of his mother as “our worst nightmare.”
CAIR’s Philadelphia office recently urged state and federal law enforcement agencies to charge a white male with hate crimes and ethnic intimidation for an allegedly racially-motivated brandishing of a pistol against Muslims protesting Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza at the footsteps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol.
CAIR-Texas called for the arrest of several men seen harassing students at the University of Texas during a Palestine Solidarity Committee meeting on the recent violence and deaths in the Gaza Strip.
CAIR-San Diego responded to hate vandalism targeting a mosque.
CAIR-Missouri condemned a X (formerly Twitter) post by a professor at Washington University in St. Louis allegedly calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and claiming they are not “humans.”
CAIR’s Michigan chapter applauded the swift arrest of a Michigan resident who was allegedly making credible threats against Palestinians in Dearborn and calls on prosecutors to charge Farmington Hills resident with a hate crime under Michigan’s current Ethnic Intimidation Law.
CAIR’s Cleveland chapter called for a hate crime investigation after an individual reportedly breached security protocols to gain unauthorized access to its office in an apparent attempt to disrupt the private event held by the civil rights organization.
CAIR’s Philadelphia office called on ParetoHealth to clarify its position after one of its employees allegedly created a public document in Google Sheets targeting Harvard University students supporting Palestinian human rights.
CAIR-NY condemned NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov for allegedly bringing and displaying a gun at a pro-Palestine protest and called for her immediate removal from office, and condemned alleged anti-Palestinian attacks in Brooklyn and called on public officials and the media to end anti-Palestinian incitement.
CAIR’s Masschusetts chapter called on law enforcement authorities to investigate vandalism targeting a sign for Palestinian and Islamic organizations in Boston as a possible hate crime.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com