Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Hizb ut- Tahrir Britain (HT) promotes violent jihad -Extreme HT cleric brought into UK to preach violence
Hizb ut- Tahrir Britain (HT) promotes violent jihad -Extreme HT cleric brought into UK to preach violence
April 21, 2009
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain (HT) promotes violent jihad
Extreme HT cleric brought into UK to preach violence
Centre for Social Cohesion Press Release 15 April 2009
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain (HT), the Islamist revolutionary group, has always claimed that it is a non-violent political party which seeks to overthrow secular regimes peacefully. In today's Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) has revealed that they support violence around the world. Two recent events highlight HT's support for violent jihad, including HT's role in the recent visit to the UK of a Sheikh who is banned from Indonesia.
Imran Waheed Speech at Marble Arch 19 January 2009
The Chief Media Advisor of HT Britain, Imran Waheed, addressed a large crowd in Marble Arch where he rejected any possible peace with Israel and claimed jihad was the only way to solve the current Middle East crisis:
[11.30 minutes into speech]"...there is no need for summits, there is no need for conferences, no need for treaties, no need for negotiations, no need for meetings, no need for Doha or Oslo or Madrid or Washington or New York or London or any of these places [where peace meetings have been held in the past]. There will be no peace and no negotiations with the illegitimate entity of Israel which has usurped the Muslim lands...brothers and sisters, they have run out of places to go [for peace talks] ...only one solution to the occupation of Muslim lands, one solution to the cries of the widows and the orphans, one solution to avenge the death of the elderly and the children...fight in the way of Allah those who fight you! al-Jihad!"
A leaflet produced by HT a day after Waheed's speech contained both anti-Semitic and violent jihadist rhetoric including:
"O Muslims!...Is it not shameful that these [Muslim] rulers indulge in negotiations and compromises with the state of Jews and stoop before it in surrender? Is there any difference between stooping before the enemy and surrendering to it? Instead, it was their duty to eliminate the state of Jews that has usurped Palestine!"
It is notable here that the leaflet contains only references to 'Jews' rather than 'Zionists'. HT will often claim that they are not anti-Semitic but only anti-Zionist.
Imran Waheed is employed by the NHS as a psychiatrist in Birmingham with a special interest in medical training.
Sheikh Isaam Ameirah - Palestinian HT cleric brought into UK by HT Britain
At an HT event on 5 April 2009, Sheikh Isaam Ameirah, a Palestinian HT cleric, told young Muslims that it was their duty to work towards creating an Islamic State in order to violently reclaim all former Muslim lands. In the same lecture he also criticises all attempts at peace and reconciliation with Israel.
Extracts include:
[21.10 mins] - Critical of Muslim rulers who reject jihad: "none of them have a strategy of fighting the Jews and even liberating one square inch of Palestine."
[22.40 mins] - On Egypt's attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah: "we advised them [Hamas and Fatah] so many times...to quit these dirty politics. And if they want to prove that they are sincere, let them go back and fight. Not to rotate on the dirty political circus."
[23.40 mins] - Critical towards Syria welcoming US engagement and wanting to be part of the peace process: "[Syria] are not ready to shoot one single bullet on those who occupy the Golan Heights."
[29.00 mins] - On the importance of the Islamic state (Khilafa): "It is the only state that is qualified to liberate Palestine and not the [Muslim] rulers who are agents of the colonialists. The Khilafa is the sole mechanism to liberate Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir and the rest of occupied Muslim lands. The Khilafa will unify and mobilize the armies to liberate Palestine...
...It is the duty of every Muslim today to work with these sincere workers [HT] who aim seriously at establishing the second Khalifa state...which we all hope that this state will be established very soon."
Although in the speech Ameirah says that non-Muslims will live peacefully within an Islamic state, it must be noted that all non-Muslims living under this rule would be treated as second class citizens and would not have the same rights as Muslims.
Both speakers banned from Indonesia
In 2007, Imran Waheed and Sheikh Issam Ameirah were banned from entering Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, when they tried to go to Jakarta to address the International Khilafa Conference. In Waheed's case he specifies that he was not allowed into Indonesia because he was on the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blacklist.
According to CSC Researcher Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens
"It is misleading to define HT as non-violent. Their recent invocations of Islamist violence show that they are certainly not averse to using force to achieve their aims."
"Although we must recognise the vast differences between HT and al-Qaeda, we should be careful not to dismiss the threat posed by this group, especially as a gateway organisation to more violent jihadist movements."
"HT are currently in decline, and their recent calls for jihad could be seen as the final throw of the dice from a group who are desperately trying to appeal to the most extreme elements of the Islamist spectrum."
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