Suburban Venue Backs Out On Hosting Islamic Conference
By Chris Bentley in News on Jun 13, 2012 7:40PM
The Meadows Club in suburban Rolling Meadows will no longer host Hizb ut-Tahrir America’s 2012 Khilafah Conference, after angry calls and emails inundated the suburban convention venue. Hizb ut-Tahrir America is part of a global call to establish Islamic caliphates (systems of government) in majority Muslim nations. The group held conferences in Oak Lawn in 2009 and Oak Brook in 2011, despite protests.
A YouTube trailer for the event shows the likes of Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi disintegrating in the wake of animated jet fire (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meets the same fate, his portrait bearing the caption, “Soon to fall.”) A spokesman for the group told The Daily Herald Hizb ut-Tahrir America does not advocate establishing an Islamic state in the U.S.:
“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."
Michele Bachmann answered a question about the so-called “jihadi group” during a press conference at the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting in Rosemont last week.
“We do have freedom of religion in the United States, but this isn’t an issue about religion or religious practice,” Bachmann said. “This is subversive speech.”
The conference, entitled “Revolution: Liberation by Revelation,” is still scheduled for Sunday, though no new venue has been publicly announced. You can watch a promotional trailer below.