UANI Calls on All New York City Hotels to Deny Accommodation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Delegation for the UN General Assembly in September

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected] 
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Calls on All New York City Hotels to Deny Accommodation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Delegation for the UN General Assembly in September

New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on all New York City hotels to refuse accommodations to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation this year during September's UN General Assembly session. Ahmadinejad is the leader of a criminal regime that is pursuing a nuclear weapon and sponsors terrorism worldwide. He has personally called for America's destruction and calls the 9/11 attacks a "big lie," and as such should not be welcomed and accommodated by any responsible New York City business.

On Monday, UANI specifically called on the Warwick New York Hotel, and its new General Manager G. Paul LeBlanc, to not host Ahmadinejad. Last year, UANI led a campaign against the Warwick during Ahmadinejad's stay, highlighting the Warwick's irresponsible decision to accommodate him. UANI's protest and advocacy activities resulted in a tremendous amount of bad publicity for the Warwick, and were featured in media outlets including CBS New York, AFP, NBC New York, CNN, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, CBS Radio, and the New York Post.

UANI is now calling on all New York City hotels to not repeat the Warwick's mistake of hosting the leader of a criminal regime and accepting its money. UANI hopes that Ahmadinejad will receive the powerful message of being fully denied accommodation in New York City, and be forced to stay at his mission to the UN, just as other world leaders do.

In separate letters sent to a total of 72 hotels on July 30, 2012, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote:

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is writing to inform you that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will once again visit New York in September to attend the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). President Ahmadinejad is the leader of a criminal regime that flouts international law by pursuing an illegal nuclear weapons program, sponsoring terrorism and abusing its own citizens. For these reasons, we strongly believe that no American-based venue should host President Ahmadinejad and his delegation. We are calling on you and all other New York-area venues to help isolate and condemn the Iranian regime by responsibly refusing to host President Ahmadinejad and his cohorts. Simply put, you should not offer the regime accommodation nor meeting/banquet facilities to spew its propaganda.   

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 In the past, Ahmadinejad has routinely misused UN events as a pulpit to promote his hateful rhetoric, radical ideology and offensive theories. For example, in his speech before the General Assembly last year, Ahmadinejad despicably claimed that the U.S. orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks against its own citizens, condemned the U.S. for killing Osama bin Laden and once again denied the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad's remarks were so objectionable that they caused members of the U.S., EU, Canadian and other Western delegations to walk-out of the meeting. ... New Yorkers, and by extension all Americans, will not tolerate Ahmadinejad's conspiratorial claims and will not look kindly on any venues that provide him with comfort and accommodation during his stay in New York City. 

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Please confirm that your venue will not host President Ahmadinejad and his delegation. The goal of UANI's campaign is not to harm legitimate businesses. However, because of the grave threat presented by the Iranian regime, be advised that UANI will publicly highlight and condemn those hotels and venues that do not make the proper and moral decision to refuse accommodation to Ahmadinejad and his delegation.

UANI sent letters to the following New York City hotels: Affinia Shelburne, Andaz Wall Street, Belvedere Hotel, The Benjamin, Bryant Park Hotel, The Carlyle, Cassa Hotel & Residences, Courtyard New York, Courtyard New York, Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan, Distrikt Hotel, Doubletree Financial District, Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel, Hotel Eventi, Fitzpatrick Grand Central, Fitzpatrick Manhattan, Four Seasons Hotel, The New York Helmsley Hotel, The Helmsley Park Lane, Giraffe Hotel, Gramercy Park Hotel, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hilton Manhattan East Hotel, Hilton New York Hotel, Hotel Elysee, Hotel Sofitel, Hyatt 48 Lex, InterContinental Hotel The Barclay, InterContinental New York Times Square, The Iroquois New York, Jumeirah Essex House, Kimberly Hotel, Le Parker Meridien New York, Library Hotel, Loews Regency Hotel, The London NYC, Mandarin Oriental, The Mansfield, New York Marriott Downtown, New York Marriot East Side, Marriott Marquis, Millenium Hilton, Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, Millenium Broadway Hotel, The Muse Hotel, The New York Palace, Omni Berkshire Place Hotel, Paramount Hotel New York, Park Central Hotel, The Pearl Hotel, The Peninsula New York, The Pierre, The Plaza Hotel, Radisson Lexington Hotel New York, The Ritz-Carlton Central Park, The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, The Roger Hotel, The Roosevelt Hotel, San Carlos Hotel, Setai Fifth Avenue, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sherry-Netherland Hotel, St. Regis Hotel, The Surrey, Trump International Hotel & Tower, The Wellington Hotel, W New York, W New York Downtown Hotel, W New York - Times Square, Waldorf Astoria, Warwick New York Hotel, The Westin New York at Times Square, and 70 Park Avenue Hotel.

In 2010 UANI successfully isolated Ahmadinejad to the only hotel that would accept him, the Hilton Manhattan East, after the InterContinental made the decision not to accommodate the Iranian delegation. UANI launched a boycott of all Hilton Hotels properties and held a rally outside of the hotel. Responding to UANI pressure, the Hilton Manhattan East decided not to accommodate Ahmadinejad for the 2011 UNGA.

In the first year of the Hotels Campaign in 2009, UANI and its supporters successfully urged The New York Helmsley Hotel, Gotham Hall and the Essex House to refuse to host Ahmadinejad, thereby denying him a platform for his hateful rhetoric. Instead, Ahmadinejad was effectively quarantined to the InterContinental The Barclay, the one hotel in New York that agreed to accommodate Iran's delegation.

UANI has requested replies from New York City hotels by August 6, 2012.  

Click here to read UANI's letter to New York City hotels.
Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad.
Click here to learn more about UANI's 2011 hotel campaign.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's October 2011 Op-Ed, "Rolling out the red carpet for Ahmadinejad."
Click here to learn more about UANI's Hotels Campaigns.

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