Support for terror continues to plague the Florida Muslim Conference.
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 --->READ MORE HERE
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