Texas woman allegedly tried to drown 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl | Crime in the United States

America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and civil liberties organization calls for hate crime charges to be filed against Texas woman accused of trying to drown Palestinian-American baby girl three years old, while claiming that the child’s mother was not really American.

So far, the suspect in this case has been charged with attempted murder and injury to a child.

The case dates back to May 19, when police in Euless, Texas, were called to the pool of an apartment complex where a disturbance had been reported between two women, according to local NBC affiliate.

Witnesses told police that “a very drunk woman attempted to drown a child and got into an argument with the child’s mother.” said a police press release reviewed by CNN.

The child’s mother told police that the alleged attacker – since identified as Elizabeth Wolf, 42 – asked her where she was from and whether the two children playing in the pool were hers, a the police said. Wolf also made statements that the mother was not American, police added.

In a press release issued Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) said the child’s mother was wearing a hijab and modest swimsuit, and was watching her children play in the shallow end. from the pool when Wolf approached her.

“The alleged attacker allegedly approached the mother with racist interrogations, then jumped into the pool and took the children to the bottom of the pool to drown them,” the statement said, adding that the mother’s elderly son six-year-old, was able to escape, but his three-year-old daughter could not do the same.

“The alleged attacker ripped off the mother’s scarf and used it to beat and kick the mother away while forcing her daughter’s head into the water,” it said. Cair’s press release.

A passerby helped rescue the three-year-old, Cair said, with the news release adding that the child was “screaming for help and spitting up water.”

According to Cair, after police were called and an officer arrested Wolf, she allegedly shouted to another passerby who was comforting the mother: “Tell her I’m going to kill her and I’ll kill her whole family.” »

Wolf has reportedly since posted $40,000 bail to be released from jail pending the resolution of her case.

In a statement released by Cair, the mother – identified only as Ms. H – said: “We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my children.

“My country is facing a war, and we are facing this hatred here. My daughter is traumatized; every time I open the door to the apartment, she runs away and hides, telling me that she is afraid that the lady will come and submerge her head in the water again.

She continued: “Additionally, my husband’s job is at risk because he has to leave work to accompany me and our four children whenever we have appointments or errands to run. »

The case against Wolf has sparked outrage among members of the American Islamic community, especially as anti-Muslim and Arab sentiments have increased in the United States amid Israel’s ongoing war against Gaza.

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis and took hostages, Israeli military strikes have killed more than 37,500 Palestinians while leaving nearly 2 million survivors forcibly displaced across Gaza amid severe shortages of food, water, medical supplies and fuel due to restrictions on Israeli aid. , according to officials.

“Here we are seeing a new level of intolerance where a person deeply believes that they can decide, based on religion, language spoken and country of origin, which children deserve to stay alive and which do not. don’t,” Austin of Cair, Texas, said operations manager Shaimaa Zayan.

Zayan added: “We are calling for a hate crime investigation, higher bail and an open conversation with those responsible to address this alarming increase in Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment. »

Texas State Rep. Salman Bhojani echoed similar sentiments, saying, “I am shocked and appalled by this alleged racist and Islamophobic event that took place in my city. Hate has no place in Euless…or anywhere else in our great state.

In some ways, the case is reminiscent of that of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Muslim boy who was stabbed and killed while his mother was seriously injured in an attack in their Illinois apartment just days after Israel launched its war. on Gaza.

The boy’s family landlord, identified as Joseph Czuba, 71, was later charged with murder and a hate crime.

Advocacy groups have reported an increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia since October 7.

Regarding the latter of these categories, Cair reported in January that it had received 3,578 complaints of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim incidents in the last three months of 2023, an increase of 178% compared to the similar period. of the previous year.