Loews Vanderbilt Hotel turned away a symposium it had booked for this weekend that would have featured a controversial Dutch politician and filmmaker, citing concerns about safety if the event were allowed to happen.A group called New English Review planned to hold a two-day conference on "Understanding the Jihad in Israel, Europe and America," and had signed a contract in January to use the prominent West End Avenue hotel.
"We canceled the group for both the safety and the health of our guests and employees here at Vanderbilt hotel," said Tom Negri, managing director of Loews Vanderbilt. Negri is known in the Nashville community for his involvement in the group Nashville for All of Us, which helped defeat the English-only measure this year. Negri would not say why he believed there could be a safety issue if the group appeared at the hotel, nor if the scheduled appearance by Geert Wilders played a part.
Rebecca Bynum, listed on the group's Web site as publisher and a senior editor, said the hotel stated no actual threat was made against Loews for hosting the symposium. "We find it interesting that even without a specific threat that the fear of violence is so great that they would decide to cancel our event," Bynum said. New English Review's Web site had a statement that said, "Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel succumbed to intimidation and cancelled hosting our event."
Bynum said the group signed a contract in January to do the meeting at Loews, but learned this week it was canceled. She said Loews knew the topic of the event and had talked with the group about the possibility of having security, though she and other members were not worried.
The group's Web site lists a Nashville mailing address, but it does not include a description of the group's purpose or mission. The World Encounter Institute, a nonprofit organization that funds the Review site and symposium, said it aims to protect the values of Western civilization. "We seek to raise awareness about the nature of the jihad and all its various instruments, which do not all necessarily involve violence," Bynum said, declining to elaborate.
One of Bynum's articles questions the Nashville Jewish community's attempt to foster relations with local Muslims. "These people are all well intentioned and perhaps actually believe they can reverse 1,400 years of Islamic history," she writes. "They are providing their own children as political cover for people whom they want very much to trust and believe, but who have revealed themselves to be deceivers."
The symposium started Friday as scheduled, but at a venue revealed only to people registered to attend. Negri wouldn't say whether Loews had ever canceled a symposium or similar event in the past. "We made the correct decision to protect the health and safety of guests and employees," Negri said.