Wadee Al Fayoumi loved to play soccer at Van Horn Woods East in Plainfield.
On Saturday, a monument honoring the 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was murdered by his landlord in an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate crime in October 2023 was unveiled in the park where he spent so many hours playing.
More than 100 people gathered at the park Saturday for the unveiling of the latest in a series of dedications to the young boy, including vigils and resolutions condemning the attack.
The statue depicts a silhouette of Wadee from the widely circulated photo of him in which he’s making half a heart with his right hand while wearing a birthday hat. The monument completes the heart, which is colored in red. Local Scouting America groups organized the project and raised money for it, with Scout leader Mir Ali saying it took a matter of minutes to secure the money.
Odai Al Fayoumi, Wadee’s father, thanked the crowd for coming to the ceremony and said the community’s support since Wadee’s murder had made him feel less alone.
“It seems you all will not forget my son, and for that I thank you,” Al Fayoumi told the crowd in Arabic, translated by CAIR executive director Ahmed Rehab. “Now I feel like we’re so many, you’re all my extended family.”
On the morning of Oct. 14, 2023, Joseph Czuba banged on her door as Wadee’s mother, Hanan Shaheen, was preparing to give her son a shower, she testified at Czuba’s trial. Czuba pushed his way into the unit and began stabbing her while yelling, “You Muslims must die.”
Shaheen locked herself in the bathroom and called 911, she testified. But while inside, she heard her son screaming. Police arrived and found 62-pound Wadee on a bed, bleeding after being stabbed 26 times. Officers found Czuba at the scene covered in blood with a knife sheath attached to his side. He told a police officer he was afraid for his life, according to police testimony.
Czuba was convicted of all charges in late February after a four-day trial and a little more than an hour of jury deliberation. Prosecutors said he carried out the murder after becoming increasingly paranoid about the war in Gaza after listening to conservative talk radio.
He was sentenced to 53 years in prison May 2.
The case — one of the most violent hate crimes to immediately follow the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel — drew international attention to Islamophobia in the U.S.
Soha Khatib, an activist who grew up in nearby Bolingbrook, said at Saturday’s ceremony Wadee’s slaying was a reminder of how the world treats Palestinians — even kindergartners.
She also noted that Wadee’s murder wasn’t just committed by one man, but was also “the work of” those perpetuating increasing Islamophobia in media, much like the shows Czuba said he consumed before stabbing the boy to death.
Beyond the U.S., though, she reminded the crowd Palestinian children continue to be killed every day. A United Nations report from May 27 says at least 50,000 children have been killed or injured by Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 2023, the same month Wadee was killed. Many of the injured children, including several amputees, have been brought to Chicago for medical care.
Brown University researchers found that in between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, the U.S. gave $17.9 billion in direct military aid to Israel, including $5.4 million to replenish weapons previously provided to Israel. Since President Donald Trump took office, the country has approved $12 billion in weapons sales and expedited $4 billion more in emergency military aid.
Illinois alone has $95 million invested in Israeli bonds after the state added $10 million more in March, according to Treasurer Michael Frerichs’ office.
“Whether in America or in Palestine, all children have a right to live,” Khatib said. “We say hate has no home in our community, but our tax dollars fund this genocide. … I ask you and I beg you to stand by the rest of his people. My soul has been shredded with every child who has been killed.”
Community members said Wadee’s murder forced reflection and growth.
“You can’t leave politics out or this, you can’t leave the genocide out of this,” said 18-year Plainfield resident Cyndi Glass, who attended the ceremony. “Our churches have come together, our Jewish and Palestinian communities have come together. I’ve been happy to see it become that without erasing Wadee’s memory.”
Glass’ 7-year-old son Dexter had been in classes with Wadee since the two were toddlers, and they had ridden the bus together every morning.
She said while she was horrified by the attack, she wasn’t surprised, as she had noticed an “underlying racism” to the community that residents have started to reckon with.
“That’s how Plainfield was for a very long time,” Glass said. “But I see so many more people bringing that up and condemning it. … I’ve started to see it disappear.”
It was the spark of hope that came out of the tragic situation, Glass said.
Now she looks forward to seeing Wadee standing at the gates of the park where her youngest often plays.
“It’s the perfect spot,” Glass said.
Contributing: David Struett