Israel Matzav

Anyone want to boycott Marriott Hotels?

The next time you travel, you may want to stay in a hotel other than a Marriott. In Hamburg, Germany on Monday, a conference called the Iran Business Forum took place. The conference, which was organized by Berlin-based IPCGmbH, addressed “investment possibilities in the northwestern provinces of Iran.” The program listed Iran’s ambassador to Germany, Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, as the keynote speaker.

Iranian Kurds and human rights groups say Attar sanctioned a massacre of Iranian Kurds during his tenure as governor of the Kurdistan and West Azarbaijan provinces from 1980 to 1985.

In a letter faxed to Marriott’s CEO, J.W. Marriott Jr., [United Against a Nuclear Iran] UANI President Mark D. Wallace wrote, “Ambassador Attar represents a criminal regime that flouts international law in developing an illegal nuclear weapon, brutally represses its own people, and is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”

UANI called on Marriott to cancel the pro-Iran trade event.

“If the Marriott continues with its plans to serve as a host to the Iran Business Forum and Ambassador Attar, UANI will take action against the Marriott hotel chain worldwide. UANI will call on its activists to peacefully protest your properties, and will call for a general public boycott of all Marriott properties, “ wrote Wallace.

Wallace noted in his letter, “Rest assured we do not seek to harm any business gratuitously, but understand that the danger that a nuclear-armed Iran poses to national and international security is too great to ignore.

“Your decision to facilitate an event dedicated to increasing the level of economic cooperation between Germany and Iran runs directly counter to the efforts of the international community to isolate the Iranian regime,” he wrote.

The local chapters of UANI and Stop the Bomb held a protest outside the hotel.

Let's go to the videotape.



Spokespeople for Marriott gave all the usual lame excuses - business is business. There's much more about this story here.

Labels: Iran sanctions regime, Stop the Bomb, United Against a Nuclear Iran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:02 PM