The Islamic Liberation Party Flexes its Muscle

“There is no revenge for the blood in Gaza other than the uprooting of the Jewish Entity”

“The proper aid for Palestine is the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of the armies”

In light of the escalation of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians throughout the month of February 2008, the Liberation Party (Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami – HT) called to seek vengeance against the Jews (“the siblings of the apes and pigs”) and Israel (the “the Jewish entity”) by uprooting it. In three malicious declarations in Arabic released by HT on March 2, 2008 in response to the escalated fighting in the Gaza Strip, it called for aiding “Palestine” through “the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of the Muslim armies.” However HT, as a party which strives to emphasize that it does not hold an agenda of violence, refused to involve itself in “the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of the armies,” but rather urged other Muslims to do so. From its standpoint, HT will contribute to such a mission only after the establishment of the Islamic caliphate which will ultimately command the Muslim armies.

Similarly to other radical Islamic organizations, such as al-Qa‘ida, HT, in its three declarations, speaks against Muslim rulers (“the exploitive rulers” or “the criminal rulers”) that according to HT either cooperated with Israel or simply do not do enough for the liberation of Palestine. HT has also criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA), including under Hamas reign, which undertook “to rule in the shadow of the occupation” and “agreed with the Muslim rulers to abandon the residents of Palestine and surrender to their enemy”.

It should be mentioned that since Abu Mazen began to head the PA, HT sees him as a marionette of the American administration, whose objective is to maximize the worldwide Muslim recognition of Israel. In HT’s view, Abu Mazen is a pawn of the “Jewish entity” and he “tours all over the world” only to achieve normalization of relations with Israel. In the internal domain, the Party views Abu Mazen as a leader who forced himself onto the Palestinian people and doesn’t promote their national aspirations.[i] To date, HT’s activities against the PA are primarily exemplified by propaganda, sermons, and criticism.

Regarding the PA under Hamas’s reign, HT has condemned Hamas regime since its establishment, as a result of being based on the Oslo Accords, its willingness to sign a temporary long-term peace treaty (“Hudna”) with Israel and its decision to not yet implement Shari‘a as the sole legal system in the PA. As early as the day after Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian elections, senior HT members emphasized in interviews to the Arab media, that Hamas victory was a “Western imperialist conspiracy against Islam and the Muslims” with the goal of providing Islamic authorization to handing Palestine over to the Jews.[ii]

Inside the Palestinian Authority’s territories, HT has thousands of operatives and even more supporters, especially in Hebron, East Jerusalem and Ramallah. The Party also has operatives and supporters among Israeli-Arabs. The success of the Party in bringing masses of people to various demonstrations, particularly the assembly of over 10,000 people in al-Birah on August 10, 2007, only validates the Party’s increasing political power in Judea and Samaria. It should be mentioned that the recent past has witnessed both the enlargement of HT’s public activity and the strengthening of its popular support, particularly with those who are disillusioned with the Hamas regime.[iii]

As mentioned, in light of the escalation of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians HT flexes its muscle through three different declarations: the first by the Palestinian branch, by the Sudanese branch, whilst the third declaration is on behalf of the Party’s leadership. As of the time of this writing, there no noticed reaction in the Palestinian street to these declarations.

See bellow the text of the three manifestos translated by the author of this article (emphases in text by the author of this paper).

The Declaration Released by HT’s Palestinian Branch on March 2, 2008[iv]

On March 2, 2008 HT’s Media Office released on its website a declaration on behalf of its Palestinian branch. This declaration, which was saturated with hatred, dealt with the situation in the Gaza Strip and called for the destruction of Israel as the solution to the Palestinian problem. Below is the declaration:

In the name of Allah the compassionate and the merciful

The desertion of Gaza is the desertion of the Islamic Ummah
There is no revenge for the blood of Gaza other than the uprooting of the Jewish entity

Palestine
24 Safar 1429 Hijra
March 2, 2008

For days the repressive Jewish entity allows Gaza’s blood through intent killings and blind bombings. It kills its men, women and children without any moral inhibition. Even the animals of the jungle are nothing like the actions these criminals are raining on the citizens of Gaza. The killing and destruction arrived yesterday, Saturday, March 1, 2008, to a massacre and war in every sense of the words.

Operations of slaughter and the gross killings have filled the history of the monstrous Jewish state in Gaza, Qana, Dir Yassin and in other places. Every time calls of condemnation and denunciation were voiced by the Muslim mass, but their rulers appear to be asleep or distracted. There are two reasons for the reoccurrence of these massacres: firstly, the [Muslim] rulers want the survival of the Jewish state out of worry for themselves, thus they are doing everything in their power to defend the Jewish entity; and secondly, the [Islamic] Ummah is not taking decisive steps to stop these massacres. The main cause for not taking decisive steps was the shifting of the people from the real solution that will stop these massacres, and to blame for that are the cooperative regimes and their media outlets along with a number of elderly sultans.

Day after day and slaughter after slaughter, the events proved that there is no solution other than to erase the Jewish entity from the earth. Any effort to solve the Palestinian problem without this objective is a lost solution. Any guidance of the people not in this direction is an intended mislead. The real solution to the Palestinian problem and the recurring massacres is the elimination of the criminal who committed them and not negotiation with him. As such, we declare:

1 – The Jews are the killers of the prophets, the sworn enemies of the Ummah (Quran, Surah 5 – The Table Spread, Verse 82: Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe [to be] the Jews and the idolaters).

2 – Rescuing the residents of Gaza, moreover the residents of all Palestine – with no difference between Haifa and Nablus and between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem – is an obligation bestowed on the entire Islamic Ummah, beginning with those nearest (Quran, Surah 8 – Spoils of War, Verse 72: …but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to help [them]).

3 – No hope to aid Palestine and its residents should be based on the exploitive rulers. It is the [Islamic] Ummah who must force them to mobilize their armies in order to uproot the Jewish entity, and if the Muslim rulers do not respond – as to be expected – then the armies must overthrow those rulers that are a roadblock to the liberation of Palestine.

4 – The Islamic Ummah has: enormous faith; men who want to die a holy death much like others want to live; mounds of weaponry, unlimited wealth – all of these are necessary elements to fulfill the Muslim victory over one hundred entities such as the Jewish entity.

5 – The pathetic Palestinian Authority plotted to absolve the Muslim leaders’ responsibility to liberate Palestine, and did not act to mobilize the armies towards Palestine and open [armed] fronts. It used the apologetic language of the criminal rulers and was satisfied with political aid. As such, it agreed with those rulers to abandon the residents of Palestine and surrender to their enemy. This political aid was expressed by negotiation and political solutions that aspire to strengthen the Jewish entity inside the heart of the Muslim’s territory…

6 – We tell the rulers of the Islamic world, particularly those whom surround Palestine, that every drop of blood that is spilled in Gaza will curse you, and that every Shahid (martyr) taken by Allah is yet another sin which your black folios will accrue. You will account for this very hard on judgment day and in your lives in this life the moment the Ummah will take matters into its own hands, and God willing, that time is near.

7 – We tell the pathetic Palestinian Authority: the Authority is a creature of the infidels, and one of its primary objectives is the suppression from eliminate “Israel”. Whoever undertakes to rule in the shadow of the occupation, even if they proclaim the Islamic code, is misleading the people… Every regime in light of the occupation suppresses the notion that the Jewish state is an enemy [state] to the point that they are seen as a side deserving of negotiation and agreement. This is a crime against Allah, his messengers and his believers. The Palestinian Authority is a damage to Islam, Muslims and their states, since it was established in light of the occupation, befriends it and negotiates with it. We tell the Palestinian Authority that it must stop this childish attempt with the Palestinian problem and must relieve itself from the treacherous agreements which it signed with the Jews and to hand over the [Palestinian] problem to its real residents: the Islamic Ummah in its entirety. It must remove the counterfeit clothes which were worn by the Arab traitors who turned the PLO in Rib?? (capital of Morocco) to the sole legal representative of the Palestinian nation, and since then have removed themselves from the Palestinian problem by selling it out in low price.

8 – We tell the residents of Gaza to hold on tight, the praised and tremendous Allah said: (Quran, Surah 39 – The Troops, Verse 10: Verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint). Allah will have mercy on your Shahids (martyrs), alleviate your sorrow and support your Jihad. Know that with the help of Allah you will soon hear the calls of “Allah Akbar” (“God is great”) by the victorious Caliphate army.

9 – We tell the resistant people of the Islamic Ummah: the army of believers, the desertion of Gaza is the desertionof your brothers’ blood, the desertion of the holy sites and the desertion of your Ummah’s pride. If this does not bring you to seek revenge and mobilize, what will? Will the screams of women, the cries of children and the blood of the Shahids (martyrs) not mobilize you?

10 – We tell the Islamic Ummah that the establishment of the Caliphate and the swearing [of the believers] to the Caliph (the ruler) of the Muslims is the only solution which will return glory and pride to the [Islamic] Ummah, liberate its holy sites, humiliate its enemies and avenge the blood of its Shahids. Allah will fulfill His promise: (Quran, Surah 9 – Repentance, Verse 14: Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands, and He will lay them low and give you victory over them, and He will heal the breasts of folk who are believers.).

The Declaration Released by HT’s Sudanese Branch on March 2, 2008[v]

On March 2, 2008 HT’s Media Office released on its website a declaration on behalf of Ibr?h?m ‘Uthm?n Abu Khal?l, the official spokesman of the Party in Sudan. Abu Khal?l denounced the Islamic Ummah, whom he described as “the Ummah of the Jihad and the holy death for the sake of Allah and for the sake of protectors of the weak,” since it sits silently aside while the Muslims are being slaughtered by the siblings of the apes and the pigs (in other words, the Jews). He called to overthrow the Muslim rulers which represent the frontal defense canal of the Jewish state. Below is the declaration:

In the name of Allah the compassionate and the merciful

Quran, Surah 24 – Light, Verse 55: Allah hath promised such of you as believe and o good work that He will surely make them to succeed [the present rulers] in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed [others]; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me. They ascribe no thing as partner unto Me. Those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants.

The Office of the Official Spokesman of HT in Sudan
24 Safar 1429 Hijra
March 2, 2008

Be ashamed, Muslims…why do I see you silent while your brothers in Gaza are being slaughtered?!

Under the nose of over a billion Muslims – men and women – who admit that “there is no God other than Allah and Muhammad his Prophet” and who hold over fifty organized armies armed from head to toe with billions of dollars worth of weapons and military equipment paid for by the [Islamic] Ummah, under their nose the Jewish massacres continue against our defenseless Muslim brothers besieged in the Gaza Strip. The number of deaths in a single day reached over sixty Shahids, most of them children which died under the collapsed buildings which were destroyed by the treacherous machines, the Jewish military machines which seek to redeem themselves from the Winograd Report which highlighted the wallowing of the Jewish nose in the southern Lebanese soil and the debunking of the myth that the Jewish army is undefeatable!!

Shame to the Islamic Ummah, the Ummah of the Jihad and the holy death for the sake of Allah and for the sake of protectors of the weak, since it sits silently aside while the Muslims are slaughtered by the siblings of the apes and the pigs. Shame to the Islamic Ummah armies which are docile to the oppressors, guard their royal thrones and don’t act to fight the aggressors…our respected Prophet, peace be upon him, defend a woman which one of the Jews exposed her pudendum and then expel the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa‘ from Medina…

We in HT’s Sudanese branch stress that:

We must help our Muslim brothers in Gaza, real help which will materialize in the mobilization of the armies and the recruitment of all the power of the Ummah to a Jihad against the Jews in order to fulfill the words of Allah which said: (Quran, Surah 8 – Spoils of War, Verse 72: …but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to help (them)). This matter calls for the removal of all the obstacles which stand in the way of this help, foremost of which are the Muslim rulers [which comprise the] the frontal defense canal of the Jewish state and which handed over the Muslims to their enemies with no shame. Allah the praised and marvelous says: (Quran, Surah 8 – Spoils of War, Verse 24: O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calleth you to that which quickeneth you).

The Declaration Released by HT Leadership on March 2, 2008[vi]

On March 2, 2008 HT’s Media Office released on its website a declaration on behalf of HT’s leadership. This declaration called for the opening of an armed front against Israel from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and later Iran and Pakistan, with the purpose of eliminating it and returning Palestine to the bosom of Islam. Below is the declaration:

In the name of Allah the compassionate and the merciful

One word!
Aid to Palestine materializes with the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of armies
If not, this would be an infidelity of Allah, the Prophet and the believers

The Jews poured fire and sulfur on Gaza. Man, tree and stone went up in flames. The blood poured out from the elderly, the women and the children… Despite this, the [Muslim] rulers did not open a front [against the Jews] and didn’t send an army. They didn’t even threaten war! It’s as if they only hear what they see!

Will a condemnation or a declaration or even a demonstration or protest be considered aid to those that are fighting in Palestine and whose bodies are torn apart?! The aid will materialize with the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of armed forces, and if not – then what are these armies made for? Were they meant to defend the crowns and royal chairs of those who betrayed Allah and the Prophet and abandoned the believers? Were they made for the rulers who observe the pure blood which is drawn from the precious sucklings as if it were at the end of the world and they don’t even care? But what is worst of all is that these armies are kept in their barracks. How does the blood which flows in their veins not boil when they see these massacres along with the heroic acts of light weapons against the enemy who is armed from head to toe? How is it possible to see this and not help the residents [of Palestine] and run over every ruler who stands in their way?! Are these massacres not enough to urge these armies to gain victory or die a holy death?

Alas the Armies in the Muslim Countries:

These rulers have become frustrated from the next world, however why can’t you open [armed] fronts from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, which are countries which surround the Jewish state from every direction?! And later from Iran and Pakistan which have long-range missiles. Why are they not using them in order to help the residents of Palestine?! Do those who yell not require weapons?

Alas the Muslims:

The aid to Palestine and the rescue of its residents from their misery will not occur without the opening of [armed] fronts and the mobilization of the armies… As a matter of fact, this by itself will succeed in eliminating the Jewish entity and will return all of Palestine to the bosom of Islam.

HT calls on you to direct your anger towards the rulers who can mobilize the armies to battle.

If this is not done, direct your anger to the armies so that they will mobilize to fight the Jews and will destroy the opposing rulers who cross their paths.

And if this is not done, make a determined decision to make a change and establish the just Caliphate who will fight the holy war.

And if this is not done, wait until Allah says His words.

(Quran, Surah 47 – Muhammad, Verse 38: And if ye turn away He will exchange you for some other folk, and they will not be the likes of you.)

Summary and Conclusions

HT, who claims to be a non-violent party, encourages violence through its incitement of a Jihad against the Jews(“the siblings of the apes and pigs”) and against the state of Israel (“the Jewish entity”, “the monster”) and utilizes a terminology no different from Hamas, Hizbullah and al-Qa‘ida. So too are the Muslim rulers in the line of blame since they, according to HT, provide a defense for Israel as a result of personal and political interests.

The dragging of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a religious arena is a known tactic by the radical Islamic organizations which seek to unite the Muslims on a religious basis rather than a political, ethnic or national framework. In the religious arena, Islam will always defeat the other, inferior “people of the book” – Judaism and Christianity – and at the end of the religious confrontation, the Muslims will always emerge victorious