Hamas-linked CAIR forced to move its annual banquet after the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, VA cancels it because of security concerns

The Crystal City Gateway Mariott Hotel had planned to host a banquet for CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), one of the nation’s most notorious anti-Israel groups. The group has a long history of anti-Israel bigotry and recently defended the Hamas terrorist attacks which murdered 1,400 Israelis.

According to CAIR, but unverified, “Anonymous callers have threatened to plant bombs in the hotel’s parking garage, kill specific hotel staff in their homes, and storm the hotel in a repeat of the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol if the events moved forward.”

Reuters reported, however, that Mariott would not confirm that there were any threats. “After careful consideration, we have determined that we are unable to move forward with an event planned for this weekend due to significant risks to the safety of event attendees, guests and associates,” a spokesperson for the Crystal Gateway Marriott said in a statement.

At least two non-violent, pro-Israel advocacy groups urged members to call on Marriott to cancel the CAIR gathering, including the Endowment for Middle East Truth and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). “Please join ZOA in calling Marriott to demand that they cancel this dangerous CAIR event,” the ZOA said in an “action alert” on Thursday.

ARLNow The banquet was billed as “a night of solidarity with Palestine,” amid the Israel-Hamas war.

“We strongly condemn the extreme and disgusting threats against our organization, the Marriott hotel and its staff,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “We will not allow the threats of anti-Palestinian racists and anti-Muslim bigots who seek to dehumanize the Palestinian people and silence American Muslims to stop us from pursuing justice for all.”

An Arlington-based conservative media outlet wrote Tuesday that the banquet was “generating concerns among pro-Israel advocates, who say the hotel chain has a responsibility to stop its venues from being used to foment anti-Israel fervor.”

On Thursday, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, a second Muslim advocacy group, said a Hilton hotel (HLT.N) in Houston had abruptly canceled its booking for an annual conference on Oct. 27-29.

“Given escalating security concerns in the current environment, the hotel has determined that it cannot serve as the venue for this event because of the potential risks to our Team Members and guests,” Hilton Houston Post Oak by the Galleria said in a statement.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on X praised the hotel’s decision and said the event would be hosted by “Hamas supporters.” “Texas has no room for hate and antisemitism like that supported by Hamas. No location in Texas should host or sponsor USCPR,” Abbott wrote.

FloridaFamilyAssoc CAIR has a long history of links to terrorists and Hamas which should have been grounds for Marriott to decline the use of its properties to the group in the first place. Several CAIR officials have been sentenced to prison and/or deported for supporting terrorism.  CAIR leaders proclaim support for Hamas and Islamic imperialism over the United States.

• Nihad Awad, CAIR Executive Director, said “I am in support of the Hamas” movement.

• In 2007, the United States Department of Justice named CAIR and two other Islamic organizations as “unindicted co-conspirators and/or joint venturers” in a criminal conspiracy to financially support Hamas in United States vs Holy Land Foundation.

• CAIR chapters demonstrated in the streets across America to show their support for Hamas even declaring that “We are Hamas.” 

• CAIR’s news release webpage has many articles that promote support for Palestinians after its Hamas government brutally and savagely attacked thousands of Israelis on October 7, 2023.

• The United Arab Emirates’ ministerial cabinet listed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as one of 83 banned terrorist organizations on November 15, 2014. 

• FBI severed ties with CAIR in 2009 because of the organization’s links to Hamas.  Fox News reports:  The FBI is severing its once-close ties with the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it has links to a support network for Hamas.  All local chapters of CAIR have been shunned in the wake of a 15 year FBI investigation that culminated with the conviction in December of Hamas fundraisers at a trial where CAIR itself was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.

• In 2007, the United States Department of Justice named CAIR and two other Islamic organizations as “unindicted co-conspirators and/or joint venturers” in a criminal conspiracy to financially support Hamas in United States vs Holy Land Foundation. ” 

• Omar Ahmad, founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations, told a Muslim crowd “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”   At the Islamic Association of Palestine’s third annual convention in Chicago in November 1999, Omar Ahmad gave a speech at a youth session praising suicide bombers who kill themselves for Islam. “Fighting for freedom, fighting for Islam — that is not suicide. They kill themselves for Islam,” he said.

• Mustafa Carroll, executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth CAIR branch, told a crowd at a Muslim rally in Austin, Texas in 2013 “If we are practicing Muslims, we are above the law of the land.”

• CAIR pressured the FBI in June 2013 to stop their Most Wanted advertising campaign which helped the FBI gain information regarding the whereabouts of dangerous terrorists.  The list of CAIR officials who have made apologetic comments in the public regarding terrorists is quite extensive. 

• Ghassan Elashi, founder of CAIR’s Texas chapter, in 2009 received a 65-year prison sentence for funneling over $12 million from the Islamic charity known as the Holy Land Foundation to the jihad terrorist group Hamas, which is responsible for murdering hundreds of Israeli civilians.

• Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, was designated by the U.S. government in 1995 as a “terrorist and Hamas leader.” He now is a Hamas leader in Syria.

• Randall Royer, CAIR’s former civil rights coordinator, in 2004 began serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding al-Qaida and the Taliban against American troops in Afghanistan and recruiting for Lashkar e-Taiba, the jihadist group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai jihad massacres.

• Bassem Khafagi, CAIR’s former community relations director, was arrested for involvement with the Islamic Assembly of North America, which was linked to al-Qaeda. After pleading guilty to visa and bank fraud charges, Khafagi was deported.

• Rabih Haddad, a former CAIR fundraiser, was deported for his work with the Global Relief Foundation (which he co-founded), a terror-financing organization. 

• Siraj Wahhaj, CAIR’s advisory board member, was named as one of the “unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators” in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments.

• Muthanna Al-Hanooti, 48, the former head of CAIR’s Michigan branch, was arrested in 2008 at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on return from the Middle East. The 14-page indictment presents five counts against him: conspiring to act as an agent of the Iraqi government, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and three false statements to the FBI. The indictment also alleges that “on or about December 22, 2002, the Vice President of Iraq directed the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum to allocate to defendant AL-HANOOTI a quantity of two million barrels of oil” that he could then sell. In brief, he stands accused of being a spy for Saddam Hussein’s government.  More information.

• Nabil Sadoun of Dallas, a former CAIR board member, was deported from the United States on the orders of Judge Anthony Rogers of the Executive Office for Immigration Review in connection with U.S. government accusations that he had ties to terrorist groups.

• US. Court of Appeals rules CAIR national must stand trial for massive fraud, RICO. The Council on American Islamic Relations is now charged with fraud and cover up perpetrated against hundreds of victims.  The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) will stand trial on charges of fraud and cover up for alleged crimes perpetrated against hundreds of victims, according to a new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Unfortunately, were it NOT for the gruesome, horrendous attack on the Jewish people in Israel on October 7, 2023 the hotel would most likely not have considered the magnitude of hate spewed by organizations like this and would most likely not have cancelled the banquet.  

However, the Hamas atrocities inflicted on Israelis on October 7, 2023 is a game changer for many Americans and Corporate America giving future tolerance to Palestinian and Islamist anti-Semitic political agendas.   The horror that Hamas imposed on thousands of unsuspecting Israelis on October 7, 2023 opened the eyes and hearts of many people to see the unacceptable dangers of tolerating anti-Semitism.

There is no doubt that many Pro-Hamas, Pro-Palestinian and hardcore Islamists are complaining to Marriott for cancelling the Council on American Relations banquet.  They will pressure the hotel to commit to allowing it to rent their hotel facilities in the future.

Their complaints and demands must be countered.

Zahra Billoo (below), a CAIR executive director and Muslim activist in the San Francisco Bay Area who came under fire recently for controversial remarks attacking mainstream Jewish organizations, has been removed as a keynote speaker from San Mateo County’s RISE 2022 women’s leadership conference.