HOUSTON — An event hosted by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights will no longer be held at a Houston hotel where it was scheduled to take place later this month.
The Hilton Houston Post Oak by the Galleria was going to host the Seize the Moment US Campaign for Palestinian Rights National Conference from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29.
The hotel cited concerns for its team members and guests for calling it off.
"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," the hotel said in a statement.
Several speakers were scheduled to show up for the conference, including journalist and academic Marc Lamont Hill, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (keynote speaker) and senior staff attorney Daila Shamas. The conference was to be moderated by Rasha Mubarak.
In the last few days, the event had come under fire, targeted by a conservative media pressure campaign, which called on people to call Hilton and complain about the event.
Gov. Abbott posted to X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday night, about the cancellation, saying it was the right thing for the hotel to do: "Hilton Hotels in Houston was correct to pull the plug on the U.S. Campaign for Palestine Rights event hosted by Hamas supporters. Texas has no room for hate & antisemitism like that supported by Hamas. No location in Texas should host or sponsor USCPR."
It's important to note that the conference was pro-Palestinian and not pro-Hamas. It was also planned well before the Hamas attack on Israel.
Hotel statement
Here's the full statement: "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."
About the campaign
According to its website, the national conference was meant to "mobilize for liberation."
"Hundreds of organizers, activists, students and artists will build across movements in our collective fight for justice. Imagine a liberated future with us, beginning with the demand to end U.S. military funding to Israel once and for all," the website said.
Tickets were $225.
Rising fears in U.S. Israel-Hamas War
By the Associated Press
A fatal stabbing in Illinois, a gun pointed at protesters in Pennsylvania, vandalism at synagogues and harassment of staff at a Palestinian restaurant all are raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas is sparking violence in the United States.
The tensions follow a familiar pattern of crimes against Jewish and Muslim communities rising when conflict erupts in the Middle East and Americans have been killed or taken hostage.
“We have a two-pronged threat to American faith communities,” said Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernadino.
While its too soon to say with certainty whether anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish crimes have increased during the war, hate crimes overall increased in the U.S. last year. In its annual report released Monday, the FBI estimated that hate crimes increased by 7% to 11,634 cases in 2022 compared to the previous year. With 1,124 incidents, anti-Jewish attacks were the second most reported hate crime, after anti-Black cases. There were 158 reported incidents of anti-Muslim attacks, and 92 reports of anti-Arab cases, according to the report.
Civil rights organizations, however, believe that even before the Hamas attacks in Israel, crime data didn’t reflect reality due to a lack of participation by local police departments and internalized fear among the Muslim population, said Robert McCaw, director of governmental affairs for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In 2021, the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, released a study in which 85% of those who were subjected to Islamophobia said they did not report it to authorities.