Latest news with #CAIRChicago
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Advocates call for hate crime charges for woman who defaced Pilsen mural
A nonprofit civil rights advocacy group called Wednesday for hate crime charges to be brought against a woman accused of attacking another woman, who caught her defacing a painting of a Palestinian man on a mural in the Pilsen neighborhood. Natalie Figueroa said she was walking home from her workplace late Friday when she noticed a woman defacing the mural on 16th Street and Ashland Avenue. When Figueroa tried to interfere, the woman struck her in the head with a metal three-hole punch and pummeled her face. Onlookers called the police, who arrived at the scene but made no arrests. Representatives at CAIR-Chicago, which advocates for civil rights for Muslims, urged Chicago police to charge the suspect with aggravated assault and a hate crime. Various speakers at the news conference lamented the desecration of a mural that they saw as a symbol of peace. No arrests had been made in the alleged attack, police said Wednesday evening. The mural, painted by Palestinian artist Taqi Spateen, depicts a Mexican man lying in a field with a Palestinian man, and is meant to represent solidarity between the Latino and Palestinian communities. The woman who vandalized the artwork burned off the section depicting the Palestinian man's face. 'Here in Chicago, we are seeing a significant escalation of hate crimes rooted in anti-Islamic and anti-Arab sentiment,' said Heena Musabji, legal director at CAIR. 'We are here to demand … that criminal actions based on hate are charged as actual hate crimes.' A still-bruised Figueroa, who sported a sizable lump on her forehead, told reporters she approached the woman and yelled at her to stop defacing the mural. The woman, she said, swung around with a metal three-hole punch in her hand and hit Figueroa on her head. As the women fought, Figueroa ended up on the ground, the other woman pinning her down and repeatedly pummeling her face. Figueroa said that her assailant taunted her during the attack, jeering that police would not arrest her. So far, Figueroa has been unable to prove her wrong. CAIR's news conference urged Chicago police to arrest the suspect, who, according to Figueroa, walked away from the scene after police had arrived and was not followed. Four days after the attack, Figueroa still had two black eyes and a bruised left arm. Arriving at her job at the event space Hoste on Wednesday morning, she said, she was confronted with 'Nazi symbols' spraypainted on the building. She believes them to be related to Friday's incident. Human rights attorney Farah Chalisa is working in partnership with the legal team at CAIR to represent Figueroa and another victim, who was attacked by the same woman at the same mural in May. 'What happened was not simply an act of vandalism — it was a hate-driven assault,' Chalisa said. A hate crime charge is a Class 4 felony in Illinois. Spateen's mural was commissioned as part of the Mural Movement, founded in 2020 by Delilah Martinez. All 231 murals Martinez has organized nationwide are related to social justice and peace. Spateen is from Bethlehem, a Palestinian town, and is staying in Chicago as part of an art residency. His mural, one of dozens in Pilsen, is the only work that the suspect has defaced. According to Figueroa and the other victim, she has thrown trash at the mural and placed feces around it. 'This mural — if that's not an artwork of love, I don't know what love is,' said CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab. 'The defacing of that mural — if that's not an act of hate, I don't know what hate is.' Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez, 25th, explained that many people in Pilsen view the attacker as a threat. Last week, Lopez said, she showed up at a community meeting wearing a wig and sunglasses and prompted Lopez's staff to call security.
Morocco World
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
‘No Sentence Would Satisfy Family of Wadee,' 6-Year-Old Palestinian Killed in Islamophobic Attack in US
Rabat — Last week marked the much-anticipated final verdict against Joseph Czuba, a 73-year-old man who received a sentence of 53 years in prison for the heinous Islamophobic murder of Wadee Alfayoumi. A judge sentenced him on Friday last week, for the Islamophobic attack against the 6-year-old boy – whom he stabbed 26 times – and his mother in 2023. The boy was killed and the mother was sent to the hospital in critical condition. The judge acknowledged the attack was motivated by anti-Muslim hate. Czuba, who was the landlord of Wadee and his mother, committed the attack in October 2023, amid the start of Israel's genocidal war on Palestinians. Judge Amy Bertani Tomczak said that the killing of Wadee and the stabbing of his mother was 'brutal and heinous.' The perpetrator's defense claimed that the man who was arrested following the killing of Wadee and the stabbing of his mother in cold blood did not receive a 'fair trial.' However, Wadee Alfayoumi's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, told the court following the sentence that no verdict is going to justify or satisfy the family. 'The day he was killed, his father had memories, had plans for his son,' the uncle said, as reported by NBC News. Hanan Shaheen, Wadee's mother, said during the trial that Czuba told her 'you, as a Muslim, must pay.' The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement on the court judgment last week, welcoming the verdict against Czuba for his involvement in a hate crime. 'No sentence can restore what was taken, but today's outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice,' Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, Ahmed Rehab said. He added that Wadee was targeted because of his religion and also because he was Palestinian. 'Our work now is to ensure that no other child suffers from the deadly consequences of hate,' he said, adding that boys and girls like Wadee are mass murdered weekly in Gaza. 'But rather than being brought to justice, their killers are protected by the majority of our politicians and whitewashed by much of our media,' said. Wadee's grandfather, quoted by CAIR, asked Czuba to explain his actions. 'We deserve for Mr. Joseph to explain his act… One stab was not enough. When he sat on top of him, what did he think?' the grandfather said. In response to the attorney's claims that Czubas' heinous murder was out of rage following news on the attacks on Israel, the grandfather asked: 'What type of news did he hear-on TV, radio, or whatever- that made him do such an unheard-of crime?' Tags: criminalization of islamophobiaFighting Islamophobia
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Chicago protesters condemn Israel's attack on Nasser Hospital
The Brief A Chicago doctor is speaking out as her friend remains trapped in a bombed Gaza hospital. Protesters gathered downtown to demand a ceasefire and an arms embargo against Israel. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is also calling for an investigation into what they call politically-motivated deportations of pro-Palestinian students. CHICAGO - A Chicago physician issued a desperate plea for action Thursday as her friend, Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, remains trapped in Gaza's Nasser Hospital following an overnight airstrike. Speaking at a gathering organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago, the doctor joined others in calling for a ceasefire and accountability for the attack. What we know Dozens gathered at CAIR Chicago's downtown offices to condemn Israel's recent military strikes, calling them a violation of international law. Their focus was the bombing of Nasser Hospital, where Abughnaim was providing medical care. Dr. Garana Syed, a Chicago physician and friend of Abughnaim, shared a message from her, describing the horror of the attack. "I don't think I can adequately describe what it felt like, knowing we were targets, that our department was in danger, that everyone around us was in danger and not knowing what would happen next," Syed said. According to the group, Abughnaim is now treating patients in a hospital damaged by missile strikes, with little access to food, medicine, or safe shelter. What they're saying CAIR Chicago is demanding an arms embargo against Israel and an immediate ceasefire. The organization is also urging lawmakers to investigate what it calls politically-motivated deportations of pro-Palestinian students in the U.S. What's next The war in Gaza started back up earlier this month following a ceasefire announcement in January. Activists continue to push for action from lawmakers and international bodies. The Source The information in this article was provided by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago, and Dr. Garana Syed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Illinois man convicted of murder and hate crimes in stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian American boy
JOLIET, Ill. — An Illinois man was found guilty Friday in the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and the wounding of his mother, an attack that prosecutors said was motivated by anti-Muslim hate and just days after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. Joseph Czuba was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes in the Oct. 14, 2023, killing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was stabbed 26 times, and in the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, who was stabbed more than a dozen times in suburban Chicago. The jury deliberated for just over an hour. The mother and son rented two rooms from Czuba and his then-wife in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, where the attack took place. Shaheen, 33, testified that Czuba, 73, turned on her shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. She said he and his then-wife were aware that she is Muslim and of Palestinian descent before they agreed to rent the rooms to her, and that she didn't previously have any issues in the two years she rented from them. She was the prosecution's first witness. Shaheen and Czuba's ex-wife, Mary Connor, who also testified for the prosecution, said that in the week leading up to the stabbings, Czuba was outraged about the war between Israel and Hamas. Shaheen said he began speaking hatefully about Muslims. Shaheen testified that Czuba told her 'your people' are killing Jewish people and babies in Israel, that Muslims were not welcome in his home and that she needed to move out. 'I told him, 'Pray for peace,'' Shaheen testified. Days later, Shaheen said, Czuba forced his way into her room, held her down, stabbed her with a knife and tried to break her teeth, as her son, Wadee, watched in fear. At one point, she said, she was able to get ahold of the knife and stab Czuba with it before he seized it from her. She said that when she went into a bathroom to call 911, Czuba moved on to Wadee, who had just celebrated his birthday. She said she could hear him shouting, 'Oh no, stop!' A knife with a 7-inch blade, which prosecutors held up to show jurors multiple times during closing arguments, was still lodged in Wadee's body when first responders arrived and was later removed. Shaheen was hospitalized and received 19 stitches on her face, as well as staples on the back of her head. The killing of Wadee and attack on Shaheen drew international attention and left many people in Illinois' large Muslim and Palestinian communities frightened. Heena Musabji, legal director at CAIR Chicago, said Friday it 'is the most heinous of hate crimes to impact Chicago's Muslim community in recent history.' Czuba, who did not testify at his trial, will be sentenced May 2. In court documents, prosecutors said he became obsessed with the war in the Middle East. 'This happened because this defendant was afraid that a war that had started on Oct. 7, 2023, a half a world away in the Middle East, was going to come to his doorstep,' prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state's attorney, told jurors in his opening statement. 'This happened because Hanan and Wadee were Muslim.' Connor, 64, testified that he had become paranoid about his personal safety and believed that their lives might be in danger because of Shaheen. She said that they both had a good relationship with Shaheen, whom she said she considered a friend and good tenant. Czuba tried to make the home enjoyable and would sometimes bring home toys for Wadee, she said. Days after the war, she said, Czuba became withdrawn and told her that he wanted Shaheen to move out of their home. 'Hanan needs to move because her friends could come and do us harm,' Connor testified Czuba had told her. But Connor, who was married to Czuba for 30 years, said she disagreed. She believed they should adhere to the terms of Shaheen's lease, and give her 30 days notice to move, and told Czuba that Shaheen had never had a guest in the home. 'I was angry,' Connor testified. 'In my mind, there was no reason for her to move.' She said Czuba also talked of an upcoming 'day of jihad' and withdrew $1,000 from his bank account because of fears the U.S. banking system would fail. Prosecutors played for jurors a conversation between Czuba and a Will County sheriff's sergeant, in which Czuba compared Wadee and Shaheen to 'infested rats.' 'What do you do when you have an infested rat situation? You exterminate them. And that's what he did that day,' prosecutor Chris Koch said in his closing argument Friday. 'That was his thought process.' In his closing argument, George Lenard, one of Czuba's attorneys, invoked O.J. Simpson's trial attorney Johnnie Cochran, telling jurors that there had been a rush to judgment in Czuba's case. Lenard also questioned why Shaheen retreated to the bathroom, evidence from the scene, the location of some of her wounds and appeared to suggest she had a financial interest in the case, something he tried to question her about under cross examination. Shaheen filed a wrongful death suit against Czuba and his ex-wife that is still pending. 'You know this is a half-baked case that the prosecution is giving you,' he said. He urged the jurors to 'have the courage' to find Czuba not guilty. Prosecutor Christine Vukmir rebutted his argument, calling the suggestion that Shaheen stabbed Wadee and then framed Czuba as 'outlandish.' 'That is the plot that he is presenting to you,' she told jurors. 'It is ridiculous.' Czuba was found on the ground outside when deputies arrived at the house. Jurors heard from police officers, firefighters and other first responders, as well as from a physician assistant who treated Shaheen at a hospital. They also heard Shaheen's 911 call to police, in which Wadee's cries could also be heard and she repeatedly told the dispatcher, 'He is killing my baby.' One of the Will County sheriff's deputies who found Wadee's body cried on the stand as jurors watched footage from her body-worn camera. Some of the footage and images were so graphic during the trial, that Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak granted a defense request that the courtroom television monitor be turned away from the gallery, where members of Wadee's family sat during the trial, so that only the jurors could see it. Wadee's father, Odai Alfayoumi, said outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet that he felt "like this decision came a little too late." 'I don't know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing," he said in Arabic through a translator. "People are telling me to smile. Maybe if I were one of you, I would be smiling. But I'm the father of the child, and I've lost a child. 'I pray that this loss, this senseless loss, is the last that we will see, that no child would suffer what my beloved little Wadee had to go through.' Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of CAIR Chicago, who translated his remarks, said Shaheen was not present when the verdict was announced because it was too difficult, but she wanted him to relay that she prays only for peace and love. Selina Guevara reported from Joliet, Ill., and Janelle Griffith from New York. This article was originally published on
