Numerous Los Angeles Jewish community members have signed a petition calling for the cancellation of high holiday services at the Qatari-owned Maybourne hotel over the owners' ties to Hamas, according to IRON initiative.
The petition was initiated on August 29 by Pini Dunner, Senior Rabbi of Beverly Hills and president of IRON initiative, a group focused on countering antisemitic protests and foreign anti-Israel influence on American universities.
The petition has since garnered almost 300 signees.
Dunner holds Rabbi Mendel Simons of "Young Jewish Professionals" responsible and has urged him to stand with the community against "Qatar's bloodstained embrace."
"The Maybourne is a flagship Qatari-owned asset in the heart of our community, a jewel in the portfolio of a regime whose record on the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the broader Western world is one of unrelenting hostility," reads the petition.
The owners of the hotel, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, former prime minister of Qatar, and Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir (monarch) of Qatar, hosted Hamas leadership in Doha, "housing them in luxury hotels and granting them international legitimacy," according to IRON Initiative, while also arranging for Qatar to send $30 million a month to the terrorist organization.
Qatar's support for Hamas
Qatari politicians have a long track record of support for Hamas's terror activities, and a recent Israeli strike targeted Hamas leadership who were being sheltered in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Netanyahu claimed that the targeted leaders were those who "planned, launched, and celebrated" the October 7 massacre, although the results of the strike are yet to be confirmed.
Since October 7, Dunner has led dozens of protests against Qatari political presence in the United States, including the embassy in Washington and the former prime minister's mansion in Bel Air.
"The high holidays demand moral clarity, not expedience," stated Dunner, who urged the community to avoid providing the hotel's owners with exactly what they crave: Jewish business, Jewish respectability, and Jewish cover.
"Would you pray in the Iranian embassy? Would you sanctify a Ku Klux Klan meeting hall with our most sacred liturgy? Make no mistake: the symbolism here is no different."