Order Jamie Glazov’s new book, ‘United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny, Terror, and Hamas’: HERE.
For the third consecutive year, the Florida Muslim Conference is facing serious scrutiny. Organized by the South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF), the event has repeatedly drawn attention for featuring speakers and content linked to terrorist glorification and Islamic extremism. And once again, it is being hosted at the city-run Coral Springs Center for the Arts.
This year’s theme, Embracing Hope, relies on familiar rhetoric. Yet beneath the conference’s upbeat branding, concerns persist regarding the promotion of Hamas, jihadist affiliations, and the denouncement of America and the West.
2024: When the Hamas Mask Slipped
The 2024 Florida Muslim Conference, titled Lighting the Path, was scheduled for January 2024 at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center. It was marketed as a family-friendly Muslim community event. What it actually represented revealed a far different reality – a threat to both local and national security.
Investigations revealed that advertised speakers had publicly glorified Hamas in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, which left over 1,200 murdered and 251 kidnapped. Those findings were presented by this author directly to hotel management in a comprehensive evidentiary briefing. Faced with overwhelming documentation and legitimate security concerns, the Marriott canceled the event.
SFMF, joined by its allies and affiliates – including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – responded not with introspection, but with lawfare. A federal lawsuit was filed against the hotel, this author, and others. In 2025, the case was dismissed.
2025: Terror Goes Mainstream – At a City-Run Facility
Rather than correcting course and emboldened by the lawsuit, which had not yet been ruled upon, SFMF doubled down.
The 2025 Florida Muslim Conference was held at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, a government-run facility overseen by city officials acting as directors under the corporation, Coral Springs Museum of Art. Reporting by this author revealed that the conference’s highly promoted grand bazaar sold merchandise bearing the image of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas mastermind behind October 7. Under Sinwar’s face, one could read the words “The Martyr Leader” in Arabic.
That same promotional material also shows a keynote speaker posing with an attendee holding a shirt depicting armed militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Notably, the company that produced the shirt, Pali Heat, is listed as a vendor at this year’s conference and publicly thanked SFMF for hosting them at last year’s event. On Pali Heat’s website, the shirt is marketed as the “Intifada Edition” and is sold for $35.
The symbolism was also evident in the speaker lineup, which included groups and individuals with long histories of extremist rhetoric, including a figure previously identified by federal prosecutors as being connected to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj. One high-ranking public official, who had initially agreed to participate in the conference, withdrew after being confronted with the facts.
The SFMF-CAIR Axis
At the center of these controversies is SFMF itself – a coalition representing many of South Florida’s most radical Islamic institutions. One of its most prominent affiliates is CAIR, whose South Florida representative, Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, has played an active role in SFMF governance and participated in leadership decisions at SFMF’s most recent General Body Meeting.
This has major significance, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. Historically, CAIR has had ideological, financial, and operational overlaps with Hamas-linked networks.
2026: Different Extremists, Same Ideology
Despite two years of negative publicity, SFMF plans to hold the 2026 conference – again at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts – from January 30-31. The lineup reads like a greatest-hits compilation of radical Islam.
- Muhammad Abdul-Aleem, known online as “Hoopfinesse,” used his social media, in December 2023, to glorify Hamas and mock Israeli hostages featured in a staged propaganda video filmed amid armed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.
- Annie Lin, a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition affiliated with Nova Southeastern University, has publicly reposted statements from senior Hamas figures. During the 2014 Gaza War between Hamas and Israel, she wrote various messages praising Gaza’s “heroes” and proclaiming, “Victory will be yours.” Lin is married to Gaza-born Imam Ibrahim Dremali, whose family participated in the October 7 massacre and who himself has appeared in online videos urging donations to Hamas and issuing genocidal threats against Jews.
- Saad Kazmi, President of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), has compared the Israeli flag to a Nazi swastika, prayed publicly for Israel’s destruction, and prominently displayed on his Facebook page the yellow and black Rabia hand sign – widely recognized as a symbol of allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood. Kazmi’s group ICNA has been linked to South Asian terror and Hamas financing.
- Imam Ahmad Deeb, who posts images of the map of Israel draped in a Palestinian flag, has described America as “profoundly immoral and evil.” One month after October 7, he rebuked calls to dismantle Hamas, while he referred to Israel as a “brutal disgusting excuse for a ‘democracy.’”
- Youssra Kamel Kandil, promoted as a motivational speaker, has a Twitter/X account with only four posts. Yet two of these posts include content copied directly from the Muslim Brotherhood’s official Twitter/X account and a call to free Gehad el-Haddad, a Brotherhood spokesman imprisoned in Egypt.
- Omar Khan, listed as a moderator for the 2026 conference, made a social media post, in May 2021, dismissing statements affirming Israel’s “right to defend itself” and “right to exist” as “propaganda lines,” “silly arguments,” and “bullshit points.”
Sinister Event Sponsors
The sponsors of the Florida Muslim Conference contain several outfits that have significant ties to terrorism. One (a “Platinum” sponsor) is Islamic Relief, a group that has been banned by a number of countries and has been labeled a Hamas front by Israel. Another (a “Gold” sponsor) is Baitulmaal, whose CEO Mazen Mokhtar is the former admin for the now-defunct al-Qaeda recruitment/financing site qoqaz.net and has said that “the operations of Hamas are heroic” and referred to suicide bombings as “an effective method of attacking the enemy.”
A Public Venue Hosting Terror
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts is not a private hall. It is a taxpayer-funded facility overseen by elected officials. Hosting such an event as the Florida Muslim Conference – given its documented terrorist associations – reflects directly on a city whose Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners seem to be practicing complicity by silence.
Keep in mind, this event’s organizers have already presided over a canceled conference, a dismissed lawsuit, and a public event that promoted terrorist imagery. Moreover, they have close affiliations with a Florida designated terrorist organization, CAIR.
At some point, the question becomes unavoidable: How many times does a pattern of support for terror need to be repeated before it is acknowledged as a dangerous pattern and is completely shut down by those who are tasked with protecting the city and its residents?
Take Action
Feel free to contact the Coral Springs Mayor, Commissioners, and Arts Center officials to express your thoughts regarding this issue. Please be respectful in any and all comments.
Mayor Scott Brook: 954-344-5911, sbrook@coralsprings.gov
Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen: nmetayerbowen@coralsprings.gov
Commissioner Shawn Cerra: scerra@coralsprings.gov
Commissioner Joshua Simmons: jsimmons@coralsprings.gov
Commissioner Joseph McHugh: jmchugh@coralsprings.gov
Arts Center General Manager Meera Hammad: mhammad@coralsprings.gov
Arts Center Special Events Administrator Devin Iovelli: diovelli@coralsprings.gov
Arts Center Facilities Coordinator Rudy Hilaire: rhilaire@coralsprings.gov
Arts Center Communications Director Randy Koral: rkoral@pfmcorp.com
Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.
