Hotel Reportedly Cancels Pro-Israel Event Over 'Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Hamas' Threats

A conservative legal firm is accusing a Tennessee hotel of canceling a pro-Israel meeting and demanding the establishment honor its commitment to the organizing party. First Liberty, a religious freedom firm, sent a letter Monday to Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel in Nashville, imploring the hotel to "fulfill its contractual obligation to HaYovel, a Christian ministry that was scheduled to hold a summit supporting Israel at the hotel next week," according to a press release. The firm's attorneys, who accused the hotel of breaching "its contractual obligation," decried the alleged actions and lambasted the hotel for purportedly canceling The Israel Summit, a conference for pro-Israel supporters who believe the nation has a right to the holy land where it currently resides. Luke Hilton, director of marketing for HaYovel — a group that brings volunteers to Israel to help support the Jewish state — told CBN News he received a call just 10 days before the event, which is set to unfold May 20-22, 2024, telling him the hotel was no longer willing to host. "They decided to cancel our contract due to pressure that they'd received from pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas groups, making phone calls," he said, noting the hotel cited safety concerns in making the decision. "It's complete shock to us and, obviously, very last minute." Hilton said HaYovel pledged to help provide increased security for the event and to do "whatever was needed to make sure everyone was safe." But the hotel reportedly wasn't persuaded by these offers. The Israel Summit is set to include speakers from Israel among other locations. First Liberty has pleaded with Sonesta to reverse its decision. Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for the law firm, told CBN News he is concerned about several matters surrounding the cancellation. "There's obviously a contract dispute issue," he said. "But, more importantly, there's a federal law, The Civil Rights Act Title II. The Civil Rights Act prohibits places of public accommodation from discriminating based upon religion and other things as well." Sasser continued, "In this case, what you have is, you have these agitators and protesters who are anti-Semitic and they do not want this group to be able to support the Jewish people or to support Israel, because of the religion of the people that they are trying to support. That's their motivation." Watch him explain.