News

In the past few weeks, there has been a significant rise in the brazen attacks on the mosques' worshippers in the Palestinian territories with the use of force by the Palestinian Authority Security Agencies, most notably the Grand Beera Mosque in Ramallah. This includes arrests, physical assault, and forcefully banning regular study circles or short talks after prayers. Worshippers of all ages fell victim to this type of abuse. (www.palinfo.com) (http://paltimes.net)

Comment

Throughout history, mosques have served as a gathering place to discuss events and issues from political to spiritual, and to heighten the general public's awareness and to enrich their knowledge. However as this is no longer the case or it seems... the Palestinian Authority has waged attack on the Holy Land's mosques. As the days pass, incidents increase in severity arresting the elderly and using batons to beat the worshippers especially those from Hizb ut Tahrir and those who try to protect and support them.

What is surprising is the timing of these incidents. The Palestinian Authority utilizes its riot troops and the various security agencies to instill a sense of overwhelming dictator style presence. The sad and pitiful part is that it displays its strength on the worshippers in the Houses of Allah which they are supposed to fortify from vandalism and arson committed by fanatical Jewish settlers who repeatedly spew their hate crimes against the Palestinians. The timing of the constriction of the mosque activities coincides with the events occurring throughout the Middle East more specifically the countries that experienced the Arab Spring Revolutions like Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco.

In these countries, the government and their security agencies ban any talk given without prior permission from the official government, and anyone who defies this face imprisonment. They do this according to them to prevent any incitement against the ruling authorities. It appears that the Palestinian Authority has followed suit. It is not surprising to have this domino effect in Palestine since the mosques serve as a gathering place for the sincere and pious believers. The United States is to have steered this emphasis on the mosques, making sure to silence the regular people, the aware people, the influential people from speaking to the masses against the atrocities committed by the ruling regimes and the West, particularly America, who has managed to sidetrack the revolutions in the aforementioned countries.

And in order to prevent a dominating and popular general opinion against them, it has repeatedly insisted that the Palestinian Authority restrict and ban the talks that according to them incite hatred against the Jewish entity and the Western governments.
However, it is relevant to mention that the fear mongering instigated by the Palestinian Authority and its security agencies will not muffle the calls to the vital issues nor will they silence the sincere dawah carriers who will not rest until the words of truth echo throughout the mosques and elsewhere. This gives them the assurance that their messages send fear throughout the various entities involved in their fear mongering campaign.

This gives the dawah carriers more strength and perseverance to continue upon this path without the fear of imprisonment or assault. Indeed the word of truth is mightier than the forces of the Palestinian Authority even when decked out their full riot gear.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Um Muhanad