WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An Illinois man was sentenced on Friday to 53 years in prison after a jury convicted him in the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and the severe wounding of his mother in an October 2023 hate crime stabbing, prosecutors said.
Joseph Czuba, 73, stabbed and killed Wadee Alfayoumi and knifed Hanan Shaheen days after U.S. ally Israel began its war on Gaza following an October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Prosecutors said the stabbing – one of the earliest and worst hate crime incidents in the U.S. since the start of the war – was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred. U.S. rights advocates have noted rising Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate and antisemitism.
The prison sentence by Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak included 30 years for the child’s murder, 20 years for the attempted murder of the mother and 3 years for hate crime, according to prosecutors.
Czuba, who was the landlord for Shaheen and her son, stabbed the boy 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) serrated blade, authorities said. Shaheen suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack that occurred in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago.
Czuba was found guilty in February. Shaheen testified during the trial that Czuba told her “you, as a Muslim, must die.”
Czuba had earlier pleaded not guilty. His defense attorney claimed prosecutors appealed to the jury’s emotions.
IMPACT OF WAR IN GAZA ON U.S. SOCIETY
Other recent incidents raising alarm in the U.S. about anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian prejudice include the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian American girl in Texas, the stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas and the beating of a Muslim man in New York.
There was also a violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters in California, a Florida shooting of two Israeli visitors whom a suspect mistook to be Palestinians and a New York City assault by a pro-Israeli mob that chanted “Death to Arabs.”
Incidents raising alarm over antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes include an unsuccessful plot to attack a New York Jewish center, an arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence and attacks in Florida that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damages to businesses over perceived support for Israel.
There have also been physical assaults against Jewish people in Michigan, Maryland and Chicago.
Hate incidents have also been reported during protests and counter-protests related to the war.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Diane Craft)
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