Marriott Dumps Islamic Group

The anti-terror wing of the Marriott Hotel in Oak Brook, Illinois bounced a conference to be held by Muslim activist group,  Hizb ut-Tahrir.  The organizers, predictably, insist that they advocate “peaceful government reform”.

Reporter Manya Barchear’s excruciatingly nuanced account claims the conference was “dedicated to reviving the prevailing system of rule that immediately followed the death of the Prophet Muhammad”.  Chicago PC code for Sharia Law.

But a Washington-based interest group called Responsible for Equality and Liberty, or REAL, said that although Hizb ut-Tahrir explicitly condemns violence, its ideology suggests otherwise. Speakers at previous conferences have denounced democracy and condoned the death penalty for people who leave Islam, said the interest group’s founder, Jeffrey Imm. He said he contacted the Marriott corporation last month when he saw the conference on the Oak Brook hotel’s calendar.

The hotel’s contract with the group stated that the hotel could not cancel unless “there was a catastrophic event or it was discovered that conference participants would engage in illegal or criminal activity.”

Group spokesman, Ayaman Hamed, acknowledges that the group’s message could be “controversial”–but only because we don’t really get it.

He argues that the group’s intentions are widely misunderstood. The group has no interest in overthrowing the U.S. government, he said. In fact, Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in some Muslim countries because those are the very governments they want to replace with an Islamic republic or caliphate, the first system of governance established in Islam.

Hope the Marriott’s legal team is ready to go.