Hilton Hotels Pressured to Cancel Pro-Palestinian Conference

Social media users are calling for Hilton Hotels to cancel a pro-Palestinian conference expected to be held at one of the company's properties in Texas amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history on October 7. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. At least 1,400 people in Israel and 2,778 in Gaza have been killed in the conflict, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The U.S. Campaign for Palestine Right (USCPR), an organization that believes in freedom and equality for Palestinian people and is working to end U.S. complicity in Israeli violence against Palestinians, is expected to hold a national conference October 27-29 in Houston, Texas, at the Hilton Houston-Post Oak.

According to the three-day conference program for "Seize the Moment," the conference will feature a panel of speakers, workshops and gatherings aimed at addressing various matters, including how to advocate and push Congress to meet their demands, where does the U.S. stand, and the progress of the movement aimed at ending U.S. military funding to Israel.

Some social media users on X, formerly Twitter, called on Hilton to cancel the event, saying that the conference is for Hamas supporters and that some of the speakers are "proud Jew haters."

In an X post, Jeremey Frankel, a conservative commentator, writer and contributor at Newsmax, called out the conference while asking others to call the Hilton in an effort to cancel the event.

"For anyone in Texas media: Hilton Hotels will be hosting a conference for Hamas supporters in Houston 27-29 Oct. Organizer is the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Notoriously proud Jew-haters Rashida Tlaib, Linda Sarsour, Marc Lamont Hill, and Omar Barghouti are among the featured hate-mongering speakers. This conference will foment even more antisemitism in the U.S. CALL HILTON HOTELS TO VOICE YOUR OBJECTION and remind them they're breaking their own policy," Frankel wrote.

Newsweek reached out to Hilton and USCPR via email for comment.

Laura Loomer, host of Loomer Unleashed, shared the same call for cancellation while alleging the event goes against the Hilton hotel policy regarding the U.S. Patriot Act.

The 2017 Hilton policy says: "In compliance with the U.S. Patriot Act as well as international anti-terrorism rules, Hilton does not support organizations that engage in terrorist activities or are involved in any acts dangerous to human life that are in violation of the criminal laws of any country where we operate."

It was not immediately clear if the policy has been updated.

In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Hilton Houston Post Oak decided to cancel the event citing safety and security concerns.

"Hilton Houston Post Oak by the Galleria serves as a place of public accommodation and does not endorse the positions of third-party groups or organizations. The safety and security of our Team Members and guests is our top priority. 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. Our priority is and will remain the safety and security of everyone we welcome at our hotel," a Hilton Houston Post Oak by the Galleria spokesperson told Newsweek.

According to the event program, Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan will be a speaker giving the keynote address, "reflecting on how we can demand justice in the halls of power."

Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian-American member of Congress and has been outspoken about Israel and its policies, was criticized following the initial attacks for her relative silence amid calls for her to resign.

The congresswoman, who represents a Muslim-majority population in Dearborn, Michigan, later condemned the attacks and said she does not support the targeting and killing of civilians, whether in Israel or Palestine. About 54.5 percent of the nearly 110,000 residents of Dearborn are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry and mostly Arab, according to the 2020 census. It's is the highest Muslim demographic in the nation.

Tlaib continues to face backlash, including from Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia who accused Tlaib of leading the "Hamas Caucus" in Congress in a post on X.

"The Hamas Caucus led by Rashida Tlaib, AOC, and Ilhan Omar treat Hamas terrorists better than [January 6] prisoners," Greene wrote on X on October 11. "Why is that?"

Update 10/17/23 5:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Hilton Houston Post Oak.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.