UN denounces 'horrendous killing' of 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN on Monday denounced the "horrendous killing" of 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was brutally stabbed to death, and the attempted killing of his mother in Illinois this weekend.

"It's hard to find the words to condemn enough a crime like that...the horrendous killing of a child, the attempted killing of his mother," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a daily press briefing.

"I think the Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) was very clear when he spoke on Friday that dehumanizing language that incites violence should never be accepted. And he very clearly called on political leaders everywhere to speak out against anti-Muslim bigotry, to speak out against hate speech, to speak out against antisemitism," he said.

"Social media companies also have a huge responsibility to play. They should not be in the business of spreading hate, spreading violence messages that incite people to do exactly what that man did in Chicago, and we're very glad that the suspect has been arrested," he added.

The assailant, Joseph Czuba, who is the victims' landlord, carried out the attack on Saturday, and the Will County Sheriff’s Office said that based on a forensic pathologist’s examination, the boy was stabbed 26 times throughout his body.

Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of a hate crime. The US Justice Department has launched a federal hate crime investigation into the tragic murder.