In prime-time remarks to the nation Thursday night, President made a point of singling out Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian American boy viciously stabbed to death Saturday in what authorities have charged as a hate crime.
“His name is Wadea,” Biden said. He went on to condemn the attack, said America shouldn’t stand for Islamophobia and addressed the Arab and Muslim communities suffering under the weight of hate. He also took a moment to tell Israel “not to be blinded by rage” as it carries out its retaliation in Gaza.
Immediately afterward, he called the boy’s family, speaking to his father and uncle. The White House said the president and the first lady expressed their condolences to the family and their commitment to speaking out against anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry.
Hanaan Shahin, Wadea’s mother, was also stabbed more than a dozen times and is expected to survive.
Biden’s remarks and the call followed direct outreach from the White House this week to the family, said Mahmood Yosif, the boy’s uncle, who has served as a spokesperson to the family. Yosif told NBC News that the White House talked to a family representative this week to express Biden’s condolences.
A White House official said Biden expressed his deepest condolences through multiple calls between the administration and family representatives. The official said White House staff members also asked whether the family consented to Biden’s bringing up Wadea in public statements.
The family’s landlord, who prosecutors say targeted Wadea and his mother because of their Muslim faith, was charged in the slaying.
On Thursday, before Biden’s speech, Yosif said the family appreciated outreach from the White House. But he said he remained frustrated with the president overall, because, he said, Biden was giving more attention to the matter overseas and not enough to what’s happening domestically, particularly hate crimes against Muslims.
“I want our president to come out and say, ‘You are No. 1. I work for the people of this country,'” Yosif said.
Biden has faced seething frustration from the Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. over what they called an uneven response after atrocities in Israel.
The frustrations are also bubbling up within the White House and inside Biden’s own campaign as he grapples with diplomatic relations in the wake of the worst terrorist attacks in Israel in decades, followed by airstrikes in Gaza that have taken a devastating humanitarian toll on Palestinians.
After word of Wadea’s murder came, Biden immediately released a statement saying that “this horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.”
“As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred,” he continued. “I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.”
Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago, told NBC News that in recent weeks, he has been inundated with complaints of hate crimes against members of the Muslim community, particularly women who are wearing the traditional hijab.
There’s also frustration over aid to the Middle East, with billions going to Israel compared to the $100 million going toward humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Biden had said that if the terrorist group Hamas doesn’t release the money to its people, he will cut off future funding.
The White House sent an official, Dilawar Syed, to Wadea’s funeral, but he was booed when he started to speak. Syed, the deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, is the highest-ranking Muslim official in the Biden administration. He brought a letter of condolence from Biden to the family, a White House official said.
Yosif said the boos came from “Americans and everyone there” — not just from Muslims — who were asked to leave if they didn’t stop.
There have also been issues within Biden world with the appearance that he hasn’t done enough for Muslims.
Staffers at both the White House and the campaign have also received inquiries from communities of color, as well as Muslim groups, asking why Biden hasn’t done more. Some of the internal discussions have included questions about why Biden hasn’t visited a mosque. Some have noted that President George W. Bush visited a mosque less than a week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, said a person familiar with the discussions.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com