Here is a switch: instead of caving in to the bullying adherents of a radically oppressive and authoritarian ideology that denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law, a public venue, The Meadows Club, actually stands for freedom — if only to avoid the public embarrassment of not doing so. But that is good enough for now. More on this story. “Islamic conference won’t be in Rolling Meadows,” by Madhu Krishnamurthy for the Chicago Daily Herald, June 13 (thanks to Benedict):
An Islamic conference scheduled for this weekend in Rolling Meadows is searching for a new venue, after The Meadows Club was flooded with calls and emails from conservatives demanding the event be canceled.
Organizers of the Khilafah Conference 2012, titled “Revolution: Liberation by Revelation “” Muslims Marching Toward Victory,” have not yet found an alternate place to host it in the Chicago area, said a Hizb ut-Tahrir America spokesman.
Organizers were expecting roughly 1,000 attendees to hear speakers discuss topics such as the causes, motivations and reasons for revolutions; the revolution in Syria; and forms of governance such as an Islamic state, secular state, and democracy.
It caught the attention of conservative commentators and political activists Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, co-founders of Stop Islamization of America, who launched a campaign against the conference through Spencer’s website, Jihad Watch, and Geller’s blog, Atlas Shrugs.
Minnesota congresswoman and former Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann, speaking at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Rosemont, called on President Barack Obama to “shut down” the conference because of possible terrorist ties.
Meadows Club owner Madan Kulkarni said the club was bombarded with calls and emails, many of which warned there would be protests.
“Phone lines were starting to get jammed,” Kulkarni said, who added they are still getting “tons” of emails.
“With other events scheduled on that day and the possibility of protests, it was not the best position for us to be in. In this kind of economy, we can’t afford any picketing.”
Kulkarni consulted with the Rolling Meadows police chief but decided the cost of having police officers work overtime to provide additional security was too high. He said organizers agreed to his request to cancel the event, saying they did not want to inconvenience the club.
Hizb ut-Tahrir America is part of a worldwide political movement advocating Muslims to return to the Islamic way of life and for the re-establishment of an Islamic caliphate governed by Shariah or Islamic law in predominantly Muslim countries.
“The call is not to bring that here to this country or anything of that sort,” said Reza Iman, a Chicago area spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir America. “The message is for Muslim countries to return to Islamic values….