Biden makes statement on the anniversary of killing of Palestinian American boy, stabbing of mother

Biden makes statement on the anniversary of killing of Palestinian American boy, stabbing of mother

    Tuesday, October 15, 2024   No comments

US President Joe Biden commemorated the one year anniversary of what he called a "heinous" fatal assault on a Palestinian American mother and son that left the 6-year-old dead. 

Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden "continue to think" about Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, saying they are "grateful for Hanan’s recovery and her powerful voice for peace." He further hailed Wadea as "a bright and cheerful American Muslim boy of Palestinian descent."

"On this day, let us all take steps that honor Wadee’s memory and reaffirm together that there is no place for hate in America, including hatred of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. We can all reject hatred and expose misinformation and disinformation that is cynically aimed at turning us against one another," he added.

Al-Fayoume was fatally stabbed 26 times at his Plainfield, Illinois, apartment with his mother, Hanaan Shahin, on Oct. 14, 2023. Shahin was critically injured after being stabbed more than a dozen times. The killing of the child and the attempted killing on the mother came just days after President Biden amplified a false claim that Hamas beheaded 40 babies, a fake story that still repeated by US officials including US senators and House leaders.

Timeline and connections between the fake news story of “40 babies beheaded” and the stabbing to death of Muslim-American child

Timeline and connections between the fake news story of “40 babies beheaded” and the stabbing to death of Muslim-American child

    Monday, October 16, 2023   No comments

Media review: 

The leader of “the most powerful nation in history”, Biden, and a cable channel that propagandize for itself under the slogan, “The Most Trusted Name in News”, peddled a fake news stories originating in Israel and claiming that “40 babies beheaded” by Palestinians. Four days later, in an area near Chicago, a man stabbed a 6 year old -Muslim-American child, while shouting, “You Muslims must die”.

As we have learned from the last 4 years, words of persons in positions of power have consequences. A Congressional committee condemned former president Trump for saying to his supporters to “fight like hell”. It was argued that his words incited the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The words of the president of the United States and the media do shape the national discourse, and evidently, the discourse created an atmosphere in which the cruel stabbing of a six-year-old American was made real, and possibly more Muslim-Americans will face more violence because of this irresponsible behavior.

Words matter, and those in power must pay attention to their words. This is just an example of how media outlets and political leaders fail to undertake due diligence check for a story before amplifying it, and the deadly consequences of such negligence.