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(CHICAGO, IL, 11/18/2024) – The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced its support for hate crime charges filed against Alexandra Szustakiewicz, who reportedly attacked a couple at a Panera Bread in Downers Grove over a Palestine hoodie worn by one of the alleged victims.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz was arrested last night and arraigned in court this morning. She was charged with two hate crime counts and disorderly conduct after verbally and physically attacking a man and his pregnant wife for wearing a Palestine hoodie. The incident was captured on video.
SEE MORE: Woman charged with hate crime after attacking couple wearing Palestine hoodie at suburban Panera
"I'm a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian,” said Waseem, the victim, who shielded his wife from several punching attempts during the assault.
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab condemned the attack and called for action:
“We have long seen how European migrants like this woman feel a bizarre sense of entitlement to regularly harass and accost native Palestinians in their ancestral homeland, knowing they enjoy full impunity and knowing their victims have no recourse. Now, shockingly but not surprisingly, that same anti-Palestinian hatred has followed them into their new homeland, here in America, where they were born and raised.
“She also expected impunity, taking swipes at a pregnant woman and allegedly saying ‘I don’t care’ when informed of her condition, and ‘this is my land.’ Their crime: breathing while Palestinian.
“Fortunately, ours is a country of laws. This alleged shameful and abusive behavior has to be understood and called out for what it is, not only in its horrid details but in the context of the larger hateful phenomenon of which it comes; it cannot and will not have a home here.”
He noted that these incidents reflect a broader pattern of hostility and intolerance towards Palestinian Americans and the Muslim community at large.
From January to June 2024, CAIR documented 4,951 incoming bias complaints nationwide, a 69 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
SEE MORE: New CAIR Data Shows Anti-Muslim, Anti-Palestinian Hate Remain Elevated in First Half of 2024
Earlier this year, CAIR’s national office released its 2024 civil rights report, which revealed the highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history. Titled “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate,” the report documented 8,061 complaints. Nearly half of all complaints received in 2023 were reported in the final three months of the year.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance.
CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com ; Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com
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