Saturday morning, after listening to conservative talk radio and becoming “heavily interested” in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, Plainfield Township landlord Joseph Czuba paid a visit to his Muslim tenants.
Hanaan Shahin answered the knock on the door, according to Will County prosecutors, and Czuba told her he was angry at her for what was happening in Jerusalem.
“Let’s pray for peace,” she said.
In response, authorities said Monday, Czuba attacked her and her 6-year-old son with a large knife, leaving Hanan bleeding profusely from the face. The boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was found lying in bed with multiple stab wounds to his chest. He was pronounced dead soon afterward.
Czuba, 71, was ordered detained Monday on felony counts including first-degree murder and hate crime.
The boy’s funeral was underway Monday.
“This is a heavy day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,” Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director said in a statement Monday.
Meanwhile, federal authorities including the FBI and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice have launched an investigation into the attack. A statement released Monday said the FBI “takes the investigation of hate crimes extremely seriously” but did not provide further information, citing the ongoing probe. Federal prosecutors can seek the death penalty for defendants convicted of causing a death ruleda hate crime.
The 6-year-old’s funeral was being held at Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview. Family, friends, Muslim community leaders and members, as well as interfaith leaders and public officials were in attendance.
Men filled the carpeted sanctuary of the mosque, kneeled down and laid their heads on the floor to pray. They faced the front of the room, where the child’s short, white casket lay, a Palestinian flag draped across it.
Before the funeral, leaders of the Muslim and Palestinian community gathered outside the mosque to condemn the attack, and criticize public officials and the media for fueling anti-Palestinian fervor. The failure to publicize suffering in Gaza dehumanized Palestinian people, they said.
“This heinous crime did not occur in a vaccuum,” said Oussama Jammal, who is on the board of directors of the Mosque Foundation. “Public officials and our media are acting irresponsible.”
A news release from Plainfield School District 202, where the boy was a student, said grief counseling would be available Monday and staffers “will keep a close eye on students for any signs of emotional distress which will be addressed and supported.”
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A fundraising site created by Rehab has raised more than $280,000 to help cover funeral expenses, hospital expenses, housing expenses for the mother and a memorial for Wadea.
The mother and son had lived on the ground floor of the house Czuba owned for two years without incident, relatives said at a news conference hosted by CAIR Sunday.
Shahin related the horrifying details of the attack to her ex-husband, Oday Al-Fayoume, CAIR leaders said. Czuba knocked on the door and began to choke and stab Shahin. She escaped to a bathroom and called 911. When she came out, she found her fatally stabbed son.
Will County prosecutors recounted that narrative in court Monday, and revealed that Czuba’s wife told authorities he regularly listened to right-wing radio and had become particularly interested in recent events in Israel.
Czuba came to believe that Shahin “was going to call over her Palestinian friends or family to harm them,” and he wanted the mother and son to move out, prosecutors said in a court filing. Czuba’s wife also told authorities he recently withdrew $1,000 cash “in case the U.S. grid went down.”
Czuba also told his wife “an event was going to occur” on Saturday — the day of the attack — but did not explain, prosecutors said.
After the attack, police found Czuba outside with a knife holster on his waist and several pocket knives at his feet, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Fitzgerald said in court Monday.
Czuba appeared at the hearing in a red Will County Jail jumpsuit with his hair unkempt.
His defense attorney, Kylie Blatti of the Will County Public Defender’s office, requested that he be released under electronic monitoring, saying he is a veteran of the Air Force, is self-employed and owns property in Plainfield and Joliet. He also suffers from medical problems, she said.
Judge Donald DeWilkins denied the request, ordering Czuba held in custody. His next court hearing was scheduled for Oct. 30.
Police on Monday morning had blocked off the driveway leading to the home where the attack occurred. A small memorial with flowers, balloons and teddy bears had been placed outside.
Al-Fayoume said his son had “loved everything” during his short life, Rehab said.
“He loved everybody. He loved his toys. He loved basketball, soccer. He loved to color. He loved to swing around. He loved his parents. He loved his family and his friends. He loved life,” Rehab said.
The boy smiles in a photo from his 6th birthday party, wearing a blue birthday hat for the Oct. 6 celebration.
“That’s how we want to remember him. There’s no shame for us. There’s shame for the perpetrator of this act. And there’s shame for those who create these atmospheres,” Rehab said.
Rehab said the boy ultimately paid the price for the hatred and dehumanization of Palestinians that has brewed across the United States as some media and elected officials perpetuate one-sided narratives of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
“I ask you: What level of blind hatred can cause such an act? And for us to reflect under which conditions such an act can occur,” Rehab said.
“We need to take collective responsibility for how we, as a civilized democratic nation, can engage in a complex conversation about a complex issue and not erase Palestinian lives, not erase Palestinian victimhood, not erase the suffering of the Palestinian people,” he continued.
A relative said it had been three days since family living in America had heard from family living in Gaza.
The Plainfield attack follows a massive escalation in the decadeslong conflict between Israel and Palestine. Hamas fighters from the long-blockaded Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack against Israel over a week ago.
More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in the attack, the vast majority civilians. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.
Israel responded with a siege of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people and one of the densest areas in the world. Israeli bombing attacks have led to overflowing hospitals as Gaza runs critically low on food, water and basic medical supplies with electricity also cut off by Israel
The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted. In one Khan Younis hospital, many of the wounded suffering from severe blast injuries were children under the age of 3.
The Associated Press contributed.
