The very same day that the Pakistani Prime Minister Gillani landed in Washington, America launched lethal strikes on South Waziristan. This invasion of Pakistani territory occurred without any warning or notification, in total disregard for Pakistan's sovereignty and independence. In recent history, this is the first time that America has welcomed a ‘strong ally' in such a humiliating fashion.
New Sect Joins Volatile Palestinian Political Brew
MEL FRYKBERG
Published: August 04, 2008
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- On Saturday as Palestinians tried to digest the latest violence and political upheaval between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, which has left nearly a dozen Palestinians dead in Gaza and over 100 injured including women and children, a shadowy Islamic organization has crept into the political equation, creating the possibility of a new reality on the ground both in Gaza and the West Bank.
As this reporter was traveling from Birzeit to Ramallah, in the central West Bank, we were held up behind a long line of taxis and motorcars at a Palestinian checkpoint at the outskirts of Ramallah.
Similar checkpoints were erected throughout the territory as Palestinian police and security personnel checked identity cards, searched passengers and arrested dozens of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Liberation Party, supporters.
According to a Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesperson, 77 party members were in detention as of Saturday including 41 in Tulkarm, 17 in Jenin, 9 in Ramallah and 10 in Bethlehem.
The supporters were trying to reach rallies, commemorating the anniversary of the downfall of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which they regard as the successor of the Abbasid dynasty, one of the dynasties of the Islamic Caliphacy.
The Islamic Caliphacy followed the death of Prophet Muhammad and lasted from the early 600s AD to the early 20th century. The Caliphacy stretched from northern Africa and western Europe through to Asia and was a golden era during the spread of Islam when the arts, culture, science, medicine, trade and religious tolerance flourished.
The Ottoman Turks claimed the Caliphacy after the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1284, but secularist and founding father of modern-day Turkey, Kemal Attaturk abolished this in 1924.
Hizb ut-Tahrir members say they applied to the respective Palestinian Authority (PA) governorate offices for permission to hold their events, and report receiving no response within the specified time period. They took this lack of refusal as an indication to go ahead and organize the commemorative rallies and conferences.
The rallies were to be held in Ramallah, and in Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank. As the Middle East Times approached Ramallah center, security forces were clearing up the remnants of demonstrators who had managed to slip through the security cordons encircling the city. The tension in the air was palpable.
Several demonstrators who had managed to unfurl black flags were quickly dragged away by Palestinian police.
Earlier in the week PA security forces had similarly prevented Hizb ut-Tahrir from holding rallies in Jenin and Bethlehem. The security forces also prevented a women's event called by Hizb ut-Tahrir in Hebron on Wednesday.
Conversely, despite the group being ideologically opposed to Hamas and more in line with Islamic Jihad, the group managed to successfully hold its first rally in Gaza on Thursday, with over 3,000 people taking to the streets and marching.
Hizb ut-Tahrir was established in 1952, in then Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem, by Sharia court judge Taqi al-Din al Nabhani, from the village of Ijzim, near Haifa.
The organization's goal is to reestablish an Islamic Caliphate to govern the whole Muslim world under Islamic law and to eventually bring the rest of the world under Islamic rule through peaceful means.
The group specifically advocates against violence, does not have an armed wing and neither does it stand in elections. Rather, Hizb ut-Tahrir seeks to agitate and educate, gaining supporters for the idea of restoring the Caliphate.
Since its establishment, Hizb ut-Tahrir has grown internationally and is now active in 45 countries. It is particularly active in Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Uzbekistan, while having made significant inroads into Pakistani community in the United Kingdom.
The organization is banned in several countries, including Russia, Germany and some Arab states. While the group's activities are outlawed in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip it is tolerated and allowed to hold demonstrations.
It is premature to ascertain exactly how Hizb ut-Tahrir will impact on the Palestinian political scene in the long run, and how popular it will become.
But as the chasm between Hamas and Fatah appears to widen, the fact that the politically intolerant de-facto rulers in Gaza tolerate the movement, while the equally undemocratic Fatah leadership in the West Bank violently opposes the organization, can only mean it will further rub salt into the wound of the debacle that currently fronts for the divided leadership in the Palestinian territories.
Written By: Hasan Al-Zaidi (YEMEN POST STAFF)
Article Date: August 4, 2008
The Islamic Liberation Party, Yemen branch, demanded shutting down the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Danish Institute and other foreign organizations because they pose great risk on the Yemeni society's culture and its sons.
The party also warned Yemeni civil society organizations against establishing relations with the foreign embassies, describing them as the biggest devil.
It further accused the NDI of fueling the Summer War of 1994 that left behind thousands of people dead and injured, together with immense material losses. It also left wild scars on the Yemeni national unity.
In its symposium themed "The International Conflict over Yemen under the Absence of Islamic Caliphate" organized last Thursday in Sana'a, the party called for restoring the Islamic Caliphate.
It also demanded an entire and radical solution for Sa'ada issue and not to use the war for settling scores, recommending as well setting solutions for what it called lifting the injustice against the South Yemen's sons.
The party came into existence in 1997 and it got several facilities by influential personalities. It held its first Caliphate conference in 2002, shortly after security forces arrested some of the party's leaders on what is known as the 'war on terror'.
On the occasion of the 87th anniversary of the destruction of the Caliphate, Hizb ut-Tahrir Kenya held a Khilafah "Caliphate" conference on Sunday 3rd August 2008 in Mombasa. Speeches were delivered in Swahili, English and Arabic.
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On 29th Rajab 1429 (2nd August 2008) Hizb ut-Tahrir /Britain gave an address to Muslims attalks in London on the Party's Global campaign throughout the month of Rajab, and linking this to its coming conference on August 16th 2008.
Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) supporters calling for a worldwide Islamic state have marched through Gaza for the first time.
About 3,000 demonstrators waved black flags and shouted slogans calling for a global Islamic government Thursday. Hizb ut-Tahrir seeks to establish a caliphate that would govern the world according to Islamic law. The group is banned in several countries, including Russia, Germany and some Arab states.
The group says it uses nonviolent means but is seen as ideologically close to Jihadist groups.
The group's activities are outlawed in the West Bank. This week, 20 group members were arrested in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The members of Hizb ut-Tahrir oppose the Islamic Hamas, which rules Gaza.
Hizb ut-Tahrir was established in 1952, in then-Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem, by Sharia court judge Taqi al-Din al Nabhani, from the village of Ijzim, near Haifa. The party's goal is the reestablishment of an Islamic caliphate to govern the whole Muslim world under Islamic law - and eventually to bring the entire world under Islamic rule. The caliphate, a title that had been claimed by Ottoman sultans since the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate, was formally abolished by Turkey's founding father Kemal Ataturk in 1924.
In its half-century of existence, Hizb ut-Tahrir has developed into an international Islamist organization known to be active in 45 countries. It has particularly active branches in Indonesia and Uzbekistan, and has made inroads into the Pakistani community in the United Kingdom.
Its branches do not maintain an armed, insurgent wing. But the movement also does not stand in elections. Rather, Hizb ut-Tahrir seeks to agitate and educate, gaining supporters for the idea of restoring the caliphate. The intention is to leave violent action - such as the destruction of Israel, which the party supports - to the conventional armed forces of the restored caliphate.
