III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 589 

Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, murdered 

as a victim of a hate crime for his Palestinian-Muslim identity, in 

the State of Illinois. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2024 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. WELCH, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, 

and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, murdered as a victim of a hate crime for 

his Palestinian-Muslim identity, in the State of Illinois. 

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-MuslimAmerican boy, was loved by his family and friends as an 

energetic, loving, and joyous light who brought sunshine 

to his loved ones and classmates; 

Whereas, on October 14, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., Wadee 

Alfayoumi was brutally stabbed 26 times by a hate-driven 

perpetrator and tragically succumbed to his injuries; 

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi’s perpetrator has been indicted for 

a hate crime by the Will County, Illinois, grand jury, and 

the Department of Justice has opened a hate crimes inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 15, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR589.IS SR589

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•SRES 589 IS 

vestigation into the events leading to Wadee Alfayoumi’s 

death, as there is evidence the perpetrator yelled during 

the brutal killing, ‘‘All Muslims must die and your people 

must die’’ and has been observed to be a consumer of 

media containing dehumanizing and hateful rhetoric that 

is anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian; 

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi was born and raised in the United 

States, and his family wanted the United States to provide them a life of safety away from dehumanizing and 

hateful rhetoric toward Palestinian people; 

Whereas no one should be a target of hate because of their 

ethnicity or religion, whether such ethnicity or religion is 

expressed verbally or through how one dresses, such as 

through the wearing of a hijab, keffiyeh, turban, 

mitpahat, tichel, shpitzel, sheitel, kippah, or yarmulke; 

Whereas dehumanizing misinformation and disinformation 

fuel sentiments of hate that result in violence against 

those who belong or who are perceived to belong to a certain ethnic or religious group; 

Whereas the Palestinian community’s migration to the 

United States dates back to the late 19th century; 

Whereas the United States is home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas in the world that is made up of lawyers, doctors, teachers, business owners, law enforcement, 

and others, all who contribute to the history, arts, commerce, promise, and character of the United States; 

Whereas Wadee Alfayoumi shared a heritage, history, love, 

culture, tradition, and brilliance belonging to the Palestinian people and was a symbol of another great Palestinian life full of promise; 


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•SRES 589 IS 

Whereas Palestinian children, Israeli children, children in the 

United States, and those all across the globe deserve to 

live in peace and be free from discrimination, hate 

crimes, and violence; and 

Whereas the recent Israel-Gaza conflict has had a particularly devastating impact on children in the region, including at one point resulting in a Palestinian child dying 

every 10 minutes, according to the World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate recognizes that— 

2 (1) the United States lost the beautiful light of 

3 Wadee Alfayoumi because of hate; 

4 (2) it is the duty of elected officials and media 

5 to tell the truth without dehumanizing rhetoric when 

6 informing the public of factual information; 

7 (3) freedom of speech and peaceful protest are 

8 constitutionally protected and a fundamental corner9 stone of democracy; and 

10 (4) the United States has zero tolerance for 

11 hate crimes, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti12 Palestinian and anti-Arab discrimination. 

Æ 


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