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Three years ago today, 6-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times in his home in Plainfield Township, IL. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed and choked. It took her weeks to recover. The man who attacked them was their landlord. While he stabbed them, he yelled, “You Muslims must die.”

His killer was convicted of murder and hate crimes. His wife testified that he listened to conservative talk radio all the time, and that he had become convinced his Palestinian tenants were a threat to him.

Wadea didn’t die in a vacuum. He was killed one week after October 7, at a time when American politicians and pundits were racing to dehumanize Palestinians on every channel.