Elham Asaad Buaras
A Florida-based Muslim organisation has filed a federal lawsuit against a hotel, local businesses, and officials in Parkland after their annual conference was abruptly cancelled.
The South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF), which represents 32 Muslim NGOs in the area, alongside the Muslim Legal Fund of America, announced the lawsuit on September 30 outside the Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
The legal action targets the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Centre, as well as the City of Parkland. According to the SFMF, the hotel cancelled their scheduled January 12-13, 2025, conference under pressure from anti-Muslim extremists, local government officials, and business leaders.
Although a contract had been signed, the group alleges the cancellation was motivated by discriminatory factors. In a press release, they expressed their concerns: “The SFMF is deeply concerned about the implications of Marriott’s actions, which reflect a troubling trend of censorship and discrimination against marginalised communities. Failing to uphold contracts for discriminatory reasons and preventing minorities from accessing places of public accommodation in response to bigoted attacks was wrong in the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s, and it is wrong now. In addition, both Marriott and local leaders must know that fearmongering and demonising Muslims through the weaponisation of terms such as ‘Hamas sympathisers’ and the application of anti-Muslim, terrorist-type tropes is never acceptable.”
Parkland Mayor Rich Walker, named in the lawsuit, told Local 10 News that he approached the hotel after residents raised concerns, though he admitted, “There was nothing specific… Residents were just concerned about the event in general.” He also noted that the final decision to cancel was made by the hotel itself.
