Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel’s decision to break its contractual obligation to host the 2024 Israel Summit not only appears to be antisemitic but also a “lack of moral leadership.”
The Israel Summit was set to be hosted at the Sonesta Hotel next week until last week when hotel leadership said that it was dropping its contract to host the event, citing “threatening” calls and messages.
The summit has since been offered the opportunity to be held at the Ramsey Event Center in Franklin on May 20-22.
Pappert, on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said the Sonesta Hotel’s decision to breach its contract to host the event “certainly could be” antisemitism, adding that it “almost certainly is a sign of lack of moral leadership.”
“This isn’t [the hotel] coming out and saying, ‘We love Israel and we support Israel and their war against Hamas.’ This is them hosting an event to people who paid them a lot of money to do so and to pull out. Now, whether or not somebody at Sonesta – the general manager or somebody higher up the food chain – may be an antisemitic person is almost irrelevant as the story is now this hotel chain backs down and throws Israel under the bus, bowing to these pro-Gaza, pro-Hamas activists,” Pappert added.
When it comes to consequences for the hotel’s breach of its contract to host the event, Pappert said he hopes First Liberty Institute—the legal counsel for the summit organizers —files a lawsuit against the hotel for unlawful religious discrimination in a place of public accommodation, as the incident sets a “precedent” for future cases.
“I certainly hope [First Liberty Institute files a lawsuit]. I think they will. I think that they need to, because this is a precedent. We’ve seen this used against mainstream, maybe a little bit more conservative Republicans, over the past few years, where you plan an event, you announce it, a couple Antifa protesters get wind of it, make a few phone calls and you’re out thousands of dollars. This has been devastating to the conservative world over the past decade and I would warn anybody listening that you do not want this to become a religious discrimination as well as political,” Pappert said.
Pappert also pointed out the monetary loss for the event as guests who planned to stay at the Sonesta Hotel must now make new accommodations for the event in Franklin, which is approximately 27 miles away from the original venue, or cancel plans to attend the event altogether.
“I think that this is going to be a very big problem for Sonesta because should these people not be able to find a hotel and should they decide to cancel their entire trip to Nashville for the Israel Summit, that certainly sounds like a lot of losses that are being accrued that could be levied at the feet of Sonesta,” Pappert said.
Hours after his appearance on Wednesday’s show, Pappert published an article revealing that the Massachusetts-based asset management company that owns the Sonesta Hotel and the hotel itself did not respond to his press inquiry to seek clarification and details about their decision to back out of hosting the Israel Summit.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Sonesta Nashville Airport” by Sonesta Nashville Airport.
