Friday, October 14, 2011

iERA Irate About Cancelled Conference

The downtown Toronto hotel that was to be hosting an Islamic revival conference later this month has told the confab's organizers it's a no-go. Not surprisingly, they--that is, iERA, the British da'wa outfit--isn't taking it too well, blaming the cancellation on "extreme" elements (hello, JDL!) within the community. In an "Action Alert," it urges its flock to write the hotel a threatening letter using this sample:
Dear Sir / Madam,

I would like to state my disappointment with the way the booking by the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) for their international conference, Calling the World Back to Allah, scheduled for 23rd October has been cancelled. It appears that although the reason given for the cancellation is that the final payment was not made, it is emerging, however, that the real reason is due to pressure by the Toronto Star, and fringe groups such as the Jewish Defence League and LGBT groups.

iERA is a mainstream Islamic organisation, and the speakers it was planning on hosting are also considered both mainstream and highly influential in the Muslim community, with them having the global support of hundreds of millions of Muslims like myself. The conference had nothing to do with homophobia or anti-semitism, and was simply talking about the universal values of Islam. I believe iERA clarified this in their press release as of the 13th October 2011.

We cannot allow extremists, driven by political motivations to bully law abiding citizens who hold different ethical values.

I would therefore urge you to accept the payment that iERA has agreed to make and reinstate the conference as I do believe that if it is not reinstated this will create a very severe backlash against the global Sheraton brand.

There are over a million Muslims in Canada and 1.5 billion Muslims globally who will refrain from using the Sheraton and brands of the Starwood Hotel Group. Furthermore, I believe iERA should seek legal recourse if the matter is not resolved within 24 hours.

I am hopeful you will reconsider your position and allow this peaceful conference to continue as planned for the betterment of the community in Canada.

Best Regards,
[NAME] 
Here's "mainstream" imam Hussain Ye, one of the conference's highly influential featured speakers. He has some choice words (lies, lies and more lies) about "the Jooo" (who, he says in his adorable accent, are under the impression that they're "the chooossen people"):


3 comments:

Uncle Double said...

If 1.5 Billion Muslims stay away from Sheraton Hotels, then I must say that I will absolutely stay at Sheraton Hotels as much as I can.

Try staying in any UK hotel these days...you can hardly move through the lobby without cutting a swath through a sea of burka-clad women. Find me a hotel free of that, and I am there.

Uncle Double said...

1.5 Billion Muslims will NOT be staying in Sheraton Hotels? Sign me up to that!!!

Anonymous said...

So we are going to be contacting the Sheraton Hotels to commend them on their principled move, right?

I actually do worry that they will cave in, and this will set a bad precedent.