RSS
Chicago rabbis attend funeral of Palestinian-American child killed in alleged Islamophobic hate crime
(JTA) — Before he paid his respects at the funeral of Wadea al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in what police are calling a hate crime, Rabbi Ari Hart called the officiants of the funeral to make sure his presence would be welcome.
“’I’m an Orthodox rabbi, I’m a Zionist rabbi, I need you to know that,’” he recalled telling the Chicago-area Muslim religious leaders. “And they said, ‘We understand. We would like you to come.’ And that was not easy for them. And it was not easy for me.”
Al-Fayoume’s killing, reportedly connected to his assailant’s rage over the war between Israel and Hamas, has drawn shock and condemnation from government officials as well as religious groups. On Tuesday, a broad coalition of Jewish organizations made a statement calling the murder “despicable” and speaking out against anti-Muslim hate.
Hart and three other Chicago-area rabbis — Hody Nemes and Josh Feigelson, who are both Orthodox, and Lizzi Heydemann, who runs an independent synagogue — wanted to deliver those sentiments in person. They attended the boy’s funeral in the village of Bridgeview, Illinois — a community known as “Little Palestine.”
Hart said that what drove him to attend the funeral wasn’t only his horror at Al-Fayoume’s death. It also flowed from his outrage over Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians.
“Islamophobia is wrong and killing anybody because of who they are and what they believe is wrong,” Hart said. “And we need to speak out about that. We certainly know what happens when there’s hatred and we’ve experienced that in our history. And we experienced it this week, the hatred and the mass murder.”
Hart added, “This little boy was killed solely because of his religion and his identity. We need to try to build a world where it doesn’t happen to anyone.”
Hart is the senior rabbi of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, a Modern Orthodox congregation in a heavily Jewish Chicago suburb. His career as a rabbi has featured interfaith and social justice work in the area that has addressed topics including medical debt and racial justice. He said that through attending the funeral, he wanted “to try to affirm our shared humanity, try to stand up together to any form of bigotry and hatred and murder.”
Feigelson wrote in a Facebook post that the funeral “wasn’t an uncomplicated visit.” But he said that felt safe and welcomed the entire time
“Dozens of people came up to me to shake my hand and thank me for coming. A few of us hugged,” he wrote. “While I’m sure some assumed that my presence meant that I was an anti-Zionist, those who asked learned of my Zionist attachments and commitments. And everyone seemed able to share the sentiment that what the vast majority of people want is simply to be able to raise their families and live in their communities in peace. That felt like a small glimmer of hope.
Fayoume was allegedly stabbed 26 times by his family’s landlord, Joseph Czuba who, according to reports, had previously been close with the family. According to NBC News, Czuba “listens to conservative talk radio on a regular basis” and recently began fixating on the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Czuba was also worried about reports of a call for a global “day of jihad” on Oct. 13, a country prosecutor said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Czuba believed Fayoume’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, who is a Palestinian immigrant, was “going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” the prosecutor said.
The funeral wasn’t easy, Hart recalled, describing cries of anguish, pain, and yelling that hit home for him in part because he is the father of a 5-year-old son.
“If I was in their shoes, I would have the same raw pain,” he said.
“They spoke a lot about feeling demonized and targeted. And that’s what happened to this boy,” he said. “The vast majority of us want the same things. We want our children to be safe and happy and flourish.”
Al-Fayoume’s mother was not in attendance because she was still recovering from the attack, when she was stabbed 12 times. Palestinian flags were hanging on the inside of car windows headed toward the mosque, where a digital billboard read: “Stop inciting violence and hatred against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.”
“I can’t solve the conflict between Israel and Hamas,” Hart said. “But maybe I can do something about how we live together here in Chicago. And I think their leadership probably feels a similar way.”
—
The post Chicago rabbis attend funeral of Palestinian-American child killed in alleged Islamophobic hate crime appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.