Muslim group sues Parkland, Broward hotel over conference cancellation, citing ‘racist’ campaign

A local Muslim group is suing a Broward County hotel, the city of Parkland and a group of businesses over the hotel’s decision to cancel the group’s annual conference earlier this year, citing “unlawful discrimination” and “conspiracy to interfere with civil rights” against members of the group, as well as violation of a contract entered into six months before the conference.

The lawsuit filed by the Muslim Federation of South Florida, which represents more than 30 area mosques, Islamic schools and community organizations, comes nine months after the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center canceled the group’s conference in January. The hotel, according to the federal lawsuit, cited “significant unwanted interest” in the decision, which followed public and political pressure and an Internet campaign calling the group “Hamas sympathizers.”

“Marriott’s cancellation of the Muslim Federation of South Florida’s annual conference was fueled by Islamophobia and hate-filled community leaders who believe all Muslims are terrorists,” said Jalal “Jay » Shehadeh, legal counsel for the Muslim Federation of South Florida, at a news conference Monday. outside the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, where the complaint was filed.

The lawsuit claims that Parkland city leaders, including Mayor Rich Walker and members of the Parkland Chamber of Commerce, including its president, Doug Eaton, made multiple efforts to “intimidate, threaten and coerce” the Marriott to cancel the conference.

The efforts, according to the lawsuit, included emails sent to the hotel from city officials, public petitions, social media posts from the Parkland Chamber of Commerce warning community members of a meeting with “pro-Hamas supporters,” and an email campaign where community members threatened to “boycott the Coral Springs Marriott” and “cancel all future reservations” if they did not comply.

Parkland Mayor Rich Walker, in a statement to the Miami Herald on Monday, said his primary concern is public safety.

“After hearing discussions in the community about safety concerns, I contacted the hotel’s general manager to ensure he was aware of these concerns,” Walker said in the release. “The content of the event did not concern me. Safety is of course the number one priority for any elected official.

The cancellation of the event and the subsequent trial took place following the surprise attack in October by Hamas militant groups in southern Israel, which left some 1,200 people dead and 240 people taken held hostage and sparked protests in South Florida and across the country. Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the United States, has since killed around 40,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Walker said that, given the same circumstances, he would “do the same thing again.”

“How can I be expected to hear residents’ concerns about safety and be satisfied with that information? I have to communicate it to the general manager so he’s aware,” Walker said.

In a statement sent to the Herald Monday evening, the Parkland Chamber of Commerce denied the lawsuit’s allegations.

“The claims made against the Chamber of Commerce (and Douglas Eaton) are completely inaccurate and baseless. We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter,” a statement from the chamber said.

The Muslim Federation said the previous year’s conference was held at the Coral Springs Marriott and went off without a hitch. The conference was intended to allow members of the local Muslim community to “come together, share knowledge, tackle social issues and share our diverse cultures,” said Samir Kakli, president of the Southern Muslim Federation. Florida, in an interview with the Miami Herald earlier this year. .

“It’s a place that our community literally considered a second home. Countless fundraisers, banquets, weddings, meetings of organizations in our community…were held at this location all the time,” Kakli said during the Coral Springs hotel press conference. “Suddenly this place where we’ve had countless events for decades…acted like they didn’t know who we were. »

Coral Spring Marriott Hotel general manager Jason Peters responded to The Miami Herald’s requests for comment in an email saying they “do not comment on pending litigation.”

The controversy surrounding the event originally stemmed from an article published on the Middle East Forum – a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a think tank fomenting anti-Muslim sentiments – claiming that the planned conference would include “hateful speeches from some of the most important people in the region.” controversial Islamist voices. The article, written by Joe Kaufman, was later referenced by local news outlet Coral Springs Talk and sparked a series of emails with Parkland executives, according to the lawsuit. Muslim Federation leaders said the hotel refused to meet with them after announcing the cancellation.

“(Coral Springs Marriott) canceled the contract on such short notice for a major event because other people asked them to and they listened,” said Christina Jump, head of the civil litigation department at the Muslim Legal Fund of America, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for Muslim civil rights.

Jump, who is part of the legal team representing the Muslim Federation, said the Marriott’s actions reflect unlawful religious and ethnic discrimination against members of a protected class.

“These individuals are members of the community,” Jump said. “This is a violation of the law. It’s racist. It is discriminatory to assume that anyone who practices Islam must be a terrorist… It is absolutely against the law.”

Lawsuit seeks declaratory relief — a way for a court to formally recognize violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — as well as a judgment that would prevent similar situations from occurring in the future and monetary damages.

“These heinous acts are the result of a concerted effort by many people, including local officials, many of whom are elected officials. These local officials ignored their obligations. They turned their backs on the members of this community,” Jump said.

Kakli said at the news conference that the Muslim conference took more than six months of planning and the cancellation derailed thousands of participants, more than 100 volunteers and 30 sponsors who were scheduled to attend. The group ultimately rescheduled the conference for February of this year.

“We couldn’t even advertise it in the usual way. We had to keep our location a secret. It’s very difficult,” Kakli said.

This article was produced with the financial support of Trish and Dan Bell and donors including the Jewish and Muslim communities of South Florida, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains full editorial control of this work.