The heart-wrenching murder of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in suburban Chicago on Oct. 14, targeted for his Palestinian heritage and Muslim faith, sent shockwaves nationwide. Sadly, Palestinian and Arab Americans were not surprised. In the days prior to the murder of Wadea, our organization — the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee — made repeated pleas to the Biden administration. We reached out to the White House and other government officials to explain how the administration’s language around the war on Gaza would cause great harm to our communities, because Biden was repeating sensationalist claims and diminishing Palestinians’ suffering. Our calls and messages were unanswered.
In a display of inconsistency, elected officials were quick to voice their indignation in the wake of Wadea’s murder, scrambling to release statements to express their outrage. It was those very same figures who, just hours prior, had been engaged in discourse that undermined the safety of the Palestinian community.
Read full op-ed at Los Angeles Times
