Tag: gun violence

  • Three Palestinian students studying in US shot for wearing keffiyah

    Three Palestinian students studying in US shot for wearing keffiyah

    Three Palestinian students were shot for wearing their country’s traditional keffiyeh scarves in Vermont, USA.

    The three boys – identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed – were in Burlington for Thanksgiving holidays when they were targeted and injured, leaving one critically wounded.

    The victims, aged 20, were students of Harvard University, Brown University and Trinity University.

    According to the police, they were walking while visiting the home of one of the victim’s relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a gun.

    “Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement.

    “The fact is that we don’t yet know as much as we want to right now,” he added. “But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.”

    According to a statement released by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is “reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.”

    It further revealed that a man shouted at and harassed the three young men, who were chatting in Arabic, and then shot them.

    The FBI Albany, New York, posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) stating that they are
    “actively” investigating the case with the Burlington Police Department, ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

  • Landlord stabs Palestinian- American child to death, injures mother in hate crime

    Landlord stabs Palestinian- American child to death, injures mother in hate crime

    Joseph Czuba, a 71-year-old man has stabbed a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death while also injuring his 32-year-old mother in Plainfield, Illinois USA in what local police have confirmed is a hate crime.

    The Palestinian-American family was reportedly attacked by the man after he got influenced watching and reading about the conflict in the Middle East.

    Czuba reportedly shouted “You Muslims must die” as he entered the family’s rented home and attacked the mother. When she ran to the bathroom to call 911, Czuba stabbed six-year-old 26 times, killing him on the spot.

    President Joe Biden has released a statement, saying that he is “sickened” by the incident.

    “This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are,” he said.

    “As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.”

    Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crimes and aggravated battery.

    Will County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday that they received an emergency call while the woman was fighting the killer.

    She “ran into the bathroom and continued to fight off her attacker”, he explained.

    By the time the police reached the scene, the mother and the child had “multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities”.

    Bothwere taken to hospital, but the boy who was reportedly stabbed 26 times couldn’t survive the attack.

    Czuba, on the other hand, sat “upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence.”

    “Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Sheriff’s office added.

    Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) identified the boy as Wadea al-Fayoume, and his mother as Hanaan Shahin.

    Wadea was born in the US, while his mother was originally from Beitunia in the West Bank and came to the country 12 years ago.

    According to CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab, Wadea had celebrated his birthday only a few weeks back.