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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hizb Ut-Tahrir: Hamas and PA are equally illegitimate |
| 2009-09-07 |
| Ma'an -- Pacifist Islamic movement Hizb Ut-Tahrir released a statement on Sunday arguing that "elections under occupation" would be "abominable and criminal act" regardless of being held upon national agreement or not. The comments came in response to Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's remark last week that "elections in the West Bank without national agreement would be a criminal act." Haniyeh himself was responding to President Mahmoud Abbas' declaration that he plans to proceed with elections as scheduled in January. Hizb Ut-Tahrir, worldwide movement favoring the peaceful creation of a transnational Islamic state, sees both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government in Gaza as illegitimate. The group has a small but devoted following in the West Bank and Gaza. The statement also criticized Haniyeh saying he would not oppose a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital while making sure Palestinian refugees return to Palestine. Hizb Ut-Tahrir also slammed Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) official Hasan Khreisha for saying, "If elections are not held in time, all officials will become illegitimate." According to the Hizb Ut-Tahrir, "All political actions which are not based on Sharia (religious law) are illegitimate. Everybody who agrees on a Palestinian state within 1967 borders is illegitimate because that will mean giving up on Palestinian territories occupied in 1948. In this regard, Hizb Ut-Tahrir says the de facto government in Gaza is similar to the Palestinian Authority in religious terms. "Continuing to speak about accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the authority in Gaza proves to be following the footsteps of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah as they have the same political proposal," the statement explained. |
| Posted by:Fred |