More than 40 civil rights organizations in America launched a campaign to boycott Hilton hotels, Thursday, September 16, 2021, after it appeared that the company was planning to build a hotel on the site of a mosque demolished by the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, where the Muslim Uighur minority suffers from persecution and torture.

The Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad, said during a press conference in front of the Hilton headquarters in the US state of Virginia, “The planned construction of the hotel contributes to the eradication of the culture and belief of Uyghur Muslims,” the British Middle East Eye website reported, Friday. September 17, 2021.

boycott campaign

In his speech, Awad noted that human rights groups “gave the Hilton hotel company more than four months to rethink, but it decided to put profit over values. It decided to put its profits before human rights.”

He emphasized that the boycott policy is what the company understands, it is only concerned with profits, saying: “You and I have a choice about where we go when we travel, hold business meetings, hold events, weddings or banquets.”

According to research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, about 16,000 mosques in 900 sites in Xinjiang were partially or completely destroyed between 2017 and 2020.

Minarets have also been removed from mosques, and some have been completely demolished in the area, which is closely monitored by China. This destruction was confirmed by reports on the ground and satellite images from previous years until now.

In July 2021, a bipartisan US congressional committee called on Hilton not to allow its name to be associated with the project.

Company position

A company spokesperson told Middle East Eye: “Hilton does not publicly discuss the details of its business agreements, but we can confirm that in 2019, an independent Chinese ownership group purchased a vacant plot of land by auction, and has plans for commercial development. Including hotel accommodation. Hilton was not involved in choosing the location.”

For years, rights groups have accused the Chinese government of embarking on a campaign against the Muslim minority. More than a million Uyghur Muslims were detained in camps; In an attempt to uproot Islamic customs.

Uighurs who demonstrated adherence to Islamic values, including prayer, fasting, abstaining from alcohol, growing beards, or wearing Islamic dress, were arrested.

The New York Times described the situation in Xinjiang as a “virtual cage”.

Xinjiang is bordered by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and has been under Chinese control since 1949, while Beijing rejects accusations of genocide or human rights abuses.

In the late days of the Trump administration, the US State Department declared that the Chinese government was committing genocide and crimes against humanity through the widespread suppression of Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

But in a February interview with CNN, US President Joe Biden appeared to downplay China’s treatment of Uighurs, saying that there were “culturally different standards” in each country.

Arabic Post