Broward hotel cancels Muslim conference. Its organizers blame ‘Islamophobic campaign’

By Lauren Costantino

On January 12, 2024

A Broward hotel canceled a local Muslim group’s annual conference a week before the event, following an internet campaign labeling the group “Hamas sympathizers.”

The South Florida Muslim Federation, which represents dozens of the regions’ mosques and Islamic schools, said that the Marriott Hotel in Heron Bay canceled its annual conference after “undue pressure from extremist groups and individuals.” The group is now demanding an apology from the Coral Springs hotel — and the assurance that Muslim community events will not be arbitrarily canceled.

The groups claims that the administration of the Marriott abruptly terminated a contract last week for a family-focused conference called “Lighting the Path” scheduled to begin on Friday, Jan 12.

The Coral Springs Marriott did not respond to multiple requests for comment but in an email the Muslim Federation shared with the Miami Herald, hotel general manager Mark Cherry cited security concerns for the decision. He wrote that the hotel had “no choice but to cancel” the event due to “significant undesirable interest” and a lack of “adequate resources” from the Coral Springs Police Department to help provide security for the two-day conference.

The Muslim Federation in a statement on Tuesday said justification provided by the Marriott “implies a surrender and acceptance of bigotry instead of standing against discrimination and prejudice.”

The news came as a shock to the group, who said the same Marriott had hosted hundreds of Muslim community events over the years without issue.

“This venue has been like a second home for Florida Muslim organizations and families, having hosted hundreds of peaceful events, and suddenly an Islamophobic campaign labels our entire Muslim community as terrorists…” said Samir Kakli, the president of the federation.

What changed? The group believes the Marriott administrators gave in to social media “racist demands” from anti-Muslim organizations and individuals.

One recent article published on Middle East Forum — a group Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a think tank that foments anti-Muslim sentiments — called the Muslim Federation “Hamas sympathizers” and advocated for the conference to be canceled. The internet campaign comes in the wake of the surprise attack in October by Hamas militant groups in southern Israel, which left some 1,200 dead and 240 people taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent war targeting Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the United States, has killed an estimated 23,000-plus Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The article, which was later referenced by local news outlet Coral Springs Talk, said that the scheduled conference would include “hateful speeches from some of the region’s most controversial Islamist voices,” and that some individuals in the federation “possess alarming ties to foreign terrorists.”

Following the article, a petition was posted on change.org last Friday demanding that the hotel bar the group from hosting the conference. It was signed by more than 4,000 people.

“This is not a ‘Hamas’ anything,” wrote the federation in an official response to the cancellation. “That is a word that was shamelessly weaponized to dehumanize us. This conference is a local Muslim-American community event.”

“If you’re calling our organization terrorists, you’re calling all of us terrorists,” Kakli said. “Islamophobia hurts us all. It’s a stain on our collective conscience in our community of South Florida.”

Last year, the South Florida Muslim Federation held their first annual conference at the Coral Springs Marriott. The event went on without a hitch, said Kakli, and was attended by nearly 1,000 people. About a dozen protesters showed up last year, but they were largely ignored, according to Kakli.

Florida elected officials including State Reps. Dotie Joseph and Marie Woodson and Margate City Commissioner Anthony Caggiano were scheduled to speak on panels at this year’s conference.

“This conference allows us to convene, share knowledge, tackle social problems and share our diverse cultures,” Kakli said.

The email sent by Mariott management also referenced the 2018 Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland as “proof of what one individual can do if given the opportunity and a lack of security.” The hotel, however, also had acted as a designated meeting point for families on the day of the shooting, where students were reunited with parents amid the chaos.

“It’s a little bit of a confusing message,” Kakli said about the Marriott’s response, adding that the hotel could not confirm any credible threats made to the hotel.

“We’re gonna continue to work for a better Florida, where any form of hate is rejected — antisemitism and Islamophobia,” said Kakli. “We won’t be silenced. This is our home. We’re not going anywhere.”

This piece was republished from Miami Herald.