OC Islamic groups hold vigil for Muslim boy fatally stabbed in Illinois

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- Local Islamic organizations came together in Garden Grove Tuesday night for a vigil to remember a Palestinian-American child killed in a hate motivated attack.

In Illinois, police say the 6-year old boy was stabbed to death by his landlord. The boy's mother was stabbed as well and remains hospitalized.

Investigators say the stabbing was prompted by the family's Muslim faith.

Those in attendance at the Orange County vigil said they want to remember all the lives lost to hate, including those trying to escape the violence in Gaza.

"The first message is to watch what we say," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles. "What we say has consequences. It leads people to act. Not everybody is level headed. Not everybody is able to differentiate. That is one."

"Number two, every child matters. Every child is valuable, should be protected whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Israeli, American, Palestinian. And we should not allow for a language of politicians coming in and justifying again and again the targeting of children."