Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, murdered as a victim of a hate crime for his Palestinian-Muslim identity, in the State of Illinois.

Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, murdered as a victim of a hate crime for his Palestinian-Muslim identity, in the State of Illinois.

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-Muslim-American boy, was loved by his family and friends as an energetic, loving, and joyous light who brought sunshine to his loved ones and classmates;

Whereas, on October 14, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., Wadee Alfayoumi was brutally stabbed 26 times by a hate-driven perpetrator and tragically succumbed to his injuries;

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi’s perpetrator was convicted of murder and hate crimes and sentenced to 53 years in prison, as there is evidence the perpetrator yelled during the brutal killing, “All Muslims must die” and was observed to be a consumer of media containing dehumanizing and hateful rhetoric that is anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian;

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi was born and raised in the United States, and his family wanted the United States to provide them a life of safety away from dehumanizing and hateful rhetoric toward Palestinian people;

Whereas no one should be a target of hate because of their ethnicity or religion, whether such ethnicity or religion is expressed verbally or through how one dresses, such as through the wearing of a hijab, keffiyeh, niqab, burqa, kufi, turban, mitpahat, tichel, shpitzel, sheitel, kippah, or yarmulke;

Whereas dehumanizing rhetoric can fuel sentiments of hate that result in violence against those who belong or who are perceived to belong to a certain ethnic or religious group;

Whereas the Palestinian community’s migration to the United States dates back to the late 19th century;

Whereas the United States is home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas in the world that is made up of lawyers, doctors, teachers, business owners, law enforcement, and others, all of whom contribute to the history, arts, commerce, promise, and character of the United States;

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi shared a heritage, history, love, culture, tradition, and brilliance belonging to the Palestinian people and was a symbol of another great Palestinian life full of promise;

Whereas Palestinian children, Israeli children, children in the United States, and those all across the globe deserve to live in peace and be free from discrimination, hate crimes, and violence; and

Whereas Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has had a devastating impact on children, with over 20,000 children killed in the last 23 months, according to Save the Children: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate recognizes that—

(1) the United States lost the beautiful light of Wadee Alfayoumi because of hate;

(2) it is the duty of elected officials and media to tell the truth without dehumanizing rhetoric when informing the public of factual information;

(3) freedom of speech and peaceful protest are constitutionally protected and a fundamental cornerstone of democracy; and

(4) the United States has zero tolerance for hate crimes, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab discrimination.