A Texas woman, Elizabeth Wolf, 42, has been formally indicted on charges related to the attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian-American girl earlier this year. The indictment, filed last month in Tarrant County, Texas, includes charges of attempted capital murder and intentionally causing bodily injury to a child, with a hate crime enhancement.
The indictment alleges that Wolf’s actions were motivated by racial hatred. The incident occurred in May at a swimming pool in Euless, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth. According to a police report, Wolf approached the children’s mother with racially charged questions before attempting to drown the three-year-old and grab the six-year-old boy. The mother managed to rescue her daughter, and the children were medically cleared by local medics.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas) has condemned the attack as a hate crime and underscored the increasing threats against Palestinian-Americans, Muslims, and other minority groups amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. Human rights advocates have highlighted a rise in threats against American Muslims, Arabs, and Jews since the conflict began.
Other recent disturbing incidents include the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois, the stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas, and the shooting of three Palestinian-American students in Vermont. In August, a former Cornell University student received a 21-month prison sentence for posting online threats against Jews, and a Jordanian citizen in Florida faced charges over threats against businesses perceived to support Israel.
