In Chicago a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy and his mother were brutally stabbed by their landlord. it is assumed that this was a targeted hate crime that appeared in the wake of the reignition of tensions between Israel and Palestine. this attack led to a fatality on the part of the child. This information comes out alongside a new FBI report that reveals that hate crime statistics are at an all-time high. Since 9/11 hate crimes over religious nature have been on the rise in the United States and have only increased since. Today we are seeing a resurgence of this trend.
Following the increased tensions between the states of Israel and Palestine, a 71-year-old landlord is on trial for the brutalization of a Palestinian American boy and his mother. The child identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times. Upon arriving at a hospital he was pronounced dead. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was also attacked and stabbed more than a dozen times. Shahin Called 911 on Saturday morning and identified her landlord as the One attacking them with a knife.The attacker has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. In the event of his conviction he faces the maximum sentence in Chicago which is life in prison. Once in prison he will continue out his sentence without bond.
October 16th, the FBI data revealed that hate crime statistics were at an all-time high. The data reported that single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes have risen by at least 37%. The FBI has sounded the alarm and reported that hate crimes are continuously on the rise. In the wake of the Isreal-Palestine, America’s trend towards extremism has led many to resort to violence.Although national murder and non-negligent manslaughter has decreased by 6% compared to the previous year, hate crimes have risen by nearly 7% in 2022.
On the existence of violence images in media and their influence on our moods, Garbielle Clemons, a photography major in her freshman year said,”A lot of people in media like to ignore it, its not really affecting them if theyre just scrolling past it. (For) the people that are engaged in it, it can be very heavy and make it difficult to get through their day. “
When asked about effect of violent images and exposure to them on our mental health,Madeline Brown, a sophmore psychology major stated, “It desentizes viewersinto believing things arent actually as bad as they are because they see it every day in media. It also terrifies people, because they dont see these things happening near them… but what if it happens here where i am?”
“You see it anywhere– Ive seen it on instagram posts, just scrolling onmy feed. Its just unavoiadbale at this point to see those types of things. You need to be prepared for it.”Dominik Goyette, a junio psychology major, noted.
