US Muslim group faces threats over event to highlight Gaza rights abuse
Council on American-Islamic Relations forced to move annual event out of Virginia hotel following anonymous threats to bomb the venue.
A major US Muslim civil rights group planning to highlight rampant human rights violation of Palestinians by Israel is moving its annual event out of a Virginia hotel after anonymous threats to bomb the venue.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) canceled plans to hold its 29th annual event on Saturday at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, where it has held events for the past decade.
CAIR said the event will move to an as-yet undisclosed location with heightened security.
The threats came after CAIR updated its programme to focus on the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Since Hamas fighters from blockaded Gaza stormed into nearby Israeli towns on October 7, Israel has launched air strikes on Gaza, destroying entire neighbourhoods and killing thousands of Palestinian civilians.
“We strongly condemn the extreme and disgusting threats against our organisation, the Marriott hotel and its staff," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who is Palestinian American, said in a statement.
“We will not allow the threats of anti-Palestinian racists and anti-Muslim bigots who seek to dehumanise the Palestinian people and silence American Muslims to stop us from pursuing justice for all.”
The Biden administration's blanket support for Israel has seen led to growing anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim sentiments in the West, manifesting in the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy in the US last week by a white American man. The boy's mother was also injured.
CAIR said the group has started already an online campaign urging Congressional members to promote a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In recent days, according to the Marriott, 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 US Capitol if the events moved forward,” the CAIR statement said.
Arlington police and the FBI are investigating, CAIR said.
Police said in an email that the department was investigating a report from the hotel that it received anonymous phone calls, “some referencing threats to bomb,” regarding the CAIR event.
Emails seeking comment from the FBI and the Marriott hotel chain were not immediately answered late Thursday night.