Thousands of people flooded the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview on Monday to mourn Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was fatally stabbed because of his Muslim faith, authorities said.
The boy was killed Saturday in Plainfield Township. Joseph Czuba, 71, entered the home Wadea shared with his mother and allegedly tried to choke Hanaan Shahin before attacking her with a knife, according to police and the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
People packed inside to pray at the Mosque Foundation, which holds 3,000 people. There were at least 100 people still outside praying, waving Palestinian flags, calling for peace and wiping tears from their cheeks.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia and Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis were among the political leaders who attended the funeral.
The boy was stabbed 26 times and died at a nearby hospital, police said. His mother was hospitalized in serious condition Monday.
The boy loved sports, “anything with a ball,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said at a news conference Sunday. He had turned 6 on Oct. 6.
Wadea Al-Fayoume
Provided
Czuba, who was the family’s landlord, was ordered held at the Will County jail. Czuba is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The Justice Department said Monday it is also looking at the case.
Czuba and the family previously had a “normal” relationship, and Czuba had built the boy a treehouse, Rehab said. But in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas and escalating Israeli occupation in Gaza, anti-Muslim rhetoric pushed Czuba toward extreme violence, Rehab said.
The boy’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, said bringing accountability to his son’s killer is the only way to honor his life.
“[We need] accountability for his life taken too soon,” he said in Arabic with Rehab translating at a news conference Sunday. “The memory of his son will live with them but for them to feel that his life was meaningful … justice has to be achieved.”
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