The past year has seen an increasing radicalism of the Islamic Liberation Party (Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami), resulting in a wave of arrests of its members in numerous countries around the world. Arrests were made in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, and Syria. In Britain-site of the organization's central headquarters-the government has made no secret of its intention to outlaw the Party.The trend toward increasing radicalism has found expression in two attempts at political subversion by members of the party in Uzbekistan (May 13, 2005) and Kyrgyzstan (March 24, 2005). In addition, on September 2, 2005, senior officials in the Party's Jordanian branch called for a militant Jihad against the West, primarily the United States and Israel. The organization claimed that, "the end of American tyranny will be accomplished at the hands of the Muslims." With regard to Israel, Party leaders said, "its end is a 'simple task' and its existence is conditioned on Western interference and the 'betrayal' of Muslim leaders". In light of this incitement Jordanian security forces arrested seven members of the Liberation Party, among them the chemist Salih al-Jalabi, one of the senior ranking members of the Jordanian branch. It is still unclear if this deviation from the Party's traditional approach represents a change in the attitudes of the Party's leadership in Britain or is simply the viewpoint of an isolated branch.
One opportunity to examine this pattern more closely is the upcoming march in support of Muslims in Iraq, the Territories, Kashmir, Chechnya, and all other "oppressed Muslims of the (Islamic) 'Ummah'." This march, organized by the party's leadership, will take place in London on the morning of December 10, 2005. The march-which will depart at 11 o'clock from the Parliament Square in London (Abingdon Street) and end in Hyde Park-will culminate with an organized rally during which senior personalities of the Muslim community in Britain will protest the British government's policies vis-à-vis Muslims around the world. Among the issues to be addressed are the shutting down of mosques sponsoring activities in support of worldwide Muslims, the release of jailed Muslims in Britain, and the planned extradition of Babar Ahmad to the United States.
Over the past year, the Liberation Party has mostly maintained its traditional operational path, as illustrated by major demonstrations around the world calling for the establishment of the Islamic Caliphate. Two recent displays of propaganda are noteworthy. The first, on Friday, October 27, 2005 took place on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where during Friday services the Party called upon the Islamic Ummah to launch the Islamic Caliphate. The second demonstration took place on Sunday, October 16, 2005 in Dacca City, Bangladesh, where approximately 5,000 supporters of the Liberation Party demanded the replacement of the local "corrupt" regime and "tyrannical" regime and its replacement with the Caliphate.
Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami is an Islamic political movement created in 1953 in East Jerusalem by the "Qadi" Taqi al-din al-Nabhani, an appeals judge and senior religious figure who split off from the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1977, after the death of al-Nabhani, Abd al-Qadim Zalum, a Palestinian resident of Hebron and one of the founders of the Party, took over as the head of the organization, a position he held until his death in April 2003. His successor is 'Ata' Abu al-Rishta, a Jordanian national of Palestinian origin who served as the Party's spokesman for the past fifteen years.
According to its stated platform, the Islamic Liberation Party's mission is to reinstitute the Islamic Caliphate that was destroyed in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal (AtatÃŒrk); to institute Muslim religious law ("Shari'a"); and to "liberate" the Islamic "Ummah" from foreign influence (in economic, social, military, cultural, and political terms). The establishment of the Caliphate, according to the Party, will be achieved through the means of Islamic "Da'wa" (propaganda) - calling upon Muslims to repent and live their lives according to "Shari'a". At the head of the Caliphate will stand a Caliph appointed by the Muslim community, which will be sworn to support him. The Caliph will rule according to the Koran and the Sunnah (the practices of the Prophet that have become sanctified customs) and he will be sworn to disseminate Islam through "Da'wa" and militant Jihad.
The Party refuses to take an active role in the militant Jihad against "infidel" Muslim leaders prior to the establishment of the Islamic Caliphate. The Party argues that the lack of a policy of violence in order to defend itself or as a tool against the "infidel" Muslim regimes is not at all connected to the issue of Jihad. In its own words, there exist two conditions on which the Party will participation in Jihad. The first condition is founded on the idea that in every instance in which "infidels" attack an Islamic country, it is incumbent on the local Muslim population to repel the enemy. Members of the Party living in the Islamic state which is attacked then have the obligation to fight in the Jihad to repel the enemy. The second condition is that in which a Muslim Caliph advocates militant Jihad with the purpose of expanding the territory of Allah. In that case, members of the Liberation Party will contribute to this mission as far as possible. At present, neither condition has been met; there is no true Islamic country under attack, nor is there an Islamic state headed by a Caliph who calls upon Muslims to fight. Thus members of the Party are not obligated to participate in militant Jihad.
Hizb a-Tahrir's first base was in Jordan. There, the local authorities did what they could to limit its activities, infiltrate its services, and arrest its leaders. The Liberation Party subsequently spread to other countries in the Arab world-to Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq), North Africa, Turkey, and Iran. At the same time, the Party also began to operate in Islamic communities in Europe-especially Britain and Germany-in North America, Central and East Asia, and Australia. Today, because of its subversive political activities and radical opinions, the Party is forbidden in most countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Party is also forbidden in Russia, and in central Asian republics such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In Europe the Party is barred from operating in Holland, Denmark, and Germany.
The Liberation Party rejects the existence of the Palestinian Authority, which it views as an "infidel Arab regime" just as any other Arab government that doesn't rule according to "Shari'a". The Party denounces any participation in the political system, such as joining parliaments or any elected councils, and views democracy as a "Bid'a" (a negative innovation adopted by Islam over the course of hundreds of years under the influence of infidels), since it serves the will of the people and represents the "cultural invasion" of the West into Muslim countries. As such, the Party refuses to participate in the upcoming elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, set to take place on January 25, 2006. It even rejects nationalism, arguing that it is a formulation of the West that has been imported to the Muslim countries.
The position of the Islamic Liberation Party with regard to Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and the Palestinian Authority is unambiguous. During the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on February 8, 2005, the Party severely criticized the Palestinian Authority and argued that the Summit was just a symbol of the scalping of Palestine to the Jews and just another step in a long series of concessions and humiliations. The Party sees Abu Mazen as a marionette of the American government, whose objective is to maximize the worldwide Muslim awareness of Israel ("the Jewish entity"). In their own words, Abu Mazen is a pawn of the "Jewish entity" and "he tours all over the world" only to achieve normalization of relations with it. Thus, The Party argues that "Abu Mazen has become the foreign minister of Ariel Sharon more than Silvan Shalom himself." In the internal domain, the Party views Abu Mazen as a leader who has forced himself on the Palestinian people and does not promote its national aspirations. The Liberation party's activities against the Palestinian Authority primarily take the form of propaganda, sermons, and opposition advertising.
The various security apparatuses of the Palestinian Authority have in the past monitored the the operations of the Liberation Party. The PA is well aware that the activities of the Party could threaten Authority officials. Nevertheless, Palestinian security forces have only carried out short-term arrests of a few activists-mostly during the 1990s-who were charged with incitement. Two possible explanations for this limited law enforcement might be the comparatively limited support of the Party among the Palestinian population and the Authority's preoccupation with primary radical Islamic organizations, such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
During its decades of existence, local branches of the Liberation Party have taken part in several failed attempts at political sabotage, two of them in the past year. Nevertheless, as long as the stated platform of the Party does not deviate from its pragmatic political missions, outlined by al-Nabhani, it can be assumed that attempts at subversion or calls for Jihad against the West and "infidel" Muslim regimes represent only the views of local branches or of individuals belonging. In other words, since currently there exists only a hope for the Islamic Caliphate, Party leadership will stick to the al-Nabhani policy: focusing on strengthening religious faith and avoidance of armed combat.
At this point in time, then, the Party may be expected operate on two main levels: the first, Islamic preaching and propaganda against the West-including Israel-and against the "infidel" Muslim regimes, which are accused of abandoned the Islamic religion and serving as a shield for Israel. The second, organizing of demonstrative marches and political protests around the world against the "infidel" Muslim regimes and against the West, which is accused of oppressing Muslims around the world.
Notwithstanding this purely "demonstrative" aspect of the Party's activities, in light of the developments of the past year, the Liberation Party does pose a real threat in the near future. This threat takes the form of a variety of possible actions:
· Political subversion against Muslim regimes-especially in Arab countries-that are viewed by the Party as "infidels".Should one of the local branches of the Party take part in the near future in terrorist activities against the infidel Muslim regimes or the West, it is likely that it will not publicly claim responsibility for the attack. Rather the claim of responsibility will be under the guise of another Islamic terrorist organization -known or unknown-in order not to damage the declared al-Nabhani practices of the Party leadership and not to jeopardize the Party's standing in those countries where its activities are still sanctioned.
· Perpetration of terrorist attacks inside Israel and against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad, based on the past declaration of the Party's Jordanian branch to embark on a militant Jihad against the West, including Israel.
· Perpetration of terrorist attacks against Western targets-primarily British and American-in response to the roles played by these countries in the war in Iraq and other conflict zones involving Muslims, not to mention the West's nominal support for Israel's right to exist.
The radical Islamic outlook of the Party, the nature of its operations, and its existence in various corners of the world, has turned the Party into a popular source of recruitment by other Islamic terrorist organizations operating in the the Middle East and elsewhere, most notably al-Qa'ida. This alone makes Hizb a-Tahrir an organization that bears watching.