A South Florida Marriott Hotel canceled a Muslim group’s conference at the last minute after a protest group claimed the coalition was promoting Hamas, terrorism and antisemitism.

The South Florida Muslim Federation, a coalition of about 30 mosques and Islamic groups, said Friday that it was told by the Marriott Coral Springs Hotel and Convention Center that its conference was being canceled because of security concerns after it received 100 calls demanding it bars the group. This weekend’s second annual conference was expected to draw more than a thousand people.

Kakli said that even before Marriott raised security concerns, his group hired Coral Springs police officers and private guards for protection. He said he told Marriott that the federation would hire more, but was rebuffed.

Kakli denied that he or his group supports terrorism or antisemitism. He said those accusations are often made against Muslims who criticize Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its treatment of Gaza to strip them and their arguments of legitimacy.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Here’s what makes this weird though. I looked up the owners of that hotel.

    An entity controlled by Malik Abdulnoor and Sahir Malki Abdulnoor bought the four-story, 110-room hotel at 620 North University Drive in Coral Springs, according to records and Vizzda. The deal breaks down to roughly $155,000 per room.

    https://therealdeal.com/miami/2023/03/30/michigan-hoteliers-pay-17m-for-courtyard-by-marriott-in-coral-springs/

    They have Middle Eastern names and they’re from Michigan. That makes them highly likely to be Muslims.

    I’m not saying this would be the first time someone chose money or power over their religion, but you must admit that makes it weird.

    • prole@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      They cancelled it because they received threats of violence. I don’t see anything weird about it? They may be Muslims (not really relevant), and they scheduled a Muslim conference. They received threats from Zionists, and decided to cancel to be safe.

      How is that them choosing money/power over their religion? Seems like they were just afraid of violence after being threatened with violence.