The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today marked the third anniversary of the murder of Wadea Al Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy killed in an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate crime.
On October 14 2023, Wadea Al Fayoume was stabbed to death by 71-year-old Joseph Czuba in Plainfield Township, Illinois. His mother was also wounded by the perpetrator. Czuba was motivated by Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in reaction to the beginning of the Gaza Genocide.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Three years ago today, six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume was brutally murdered. We pray that God honors him with paradise and grants solace to his family and loved ones. Wadea was murdered by a man motivated by the same hatred that inspired the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego earlier this year. It is the same hatred that has motivated the Israeli government to slaughter tens of thousands of Palestinians and Gaza. It is the same hatred that is spewed by the White House and numerous political leaders and media figures – and it is on the rise. Three years after the horrific murder of Wadea Al Fayoume, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate are stronger than ever. Today, we are reminded of the real-world consequences of this hateful ideology. All elected officials and leaders across our nation must speak out in repudiation of this hatred.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]