Hizb-ut-Tahrir attempts to circumvent Britain’s new anti-terror laws by recruiting in the guise of a group fighting “Islamophobia.” This is a clear illustration of the fact that charges of “Islamophobia” are all too often just a cover for jihadists and jihad apologists. –˜Stealth” Islamists recruit students,” from the Times Online, with thanks to Twostellas:
AN ISLAMIC organisation facing a ban under terrorism laws has launched a campaign to recruit university students using an anti-racist front organisation.
An undercover Sunday Times investigation has established that the party, Hizb ut-Tahrir, has been recruiting under the name Stop Islamophobia at University College London (UCL), the School of African and Oriental Studies, Luton University and other institutions.
Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to establish a transnational state governed by Islamic law. It is reported to have thousands of members in Britain. One member said suicide bombers in Israel would go “straight to heaven“.
It was formerly led in Britain by Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical preacher who referred to the September 11 hijackers as the “Magnificent 19“. Bakri left the party in 1996 and went on to set up Al-Muhajiroun, which is also facing proscription.
In August Tony Blair said that Hizb ut-Tahrir, which urged Muslims not to vote in the election, would be outlawed. The party has been proscribed in much of the Middle East and in Germany, where it is appealing against a ban for distributing anti-semitic literature. The party denies being anti-Jewish or supporting violence….
The report said that Hizb ut-Tahrir, which recruited openly on campuses until earlier this year, “has issued a number of anti-semitic statements. Furthermore, it is anti-Hindu (because of the war in Kashmir), anti-Sikh, homophobic, anti-feminist and resentful of the West’s influence on Islam.”…
At UCL the group was not recruiting directly at the freshers” fair but members of the college’s Muslim Media Forum wore Stop Islamophobia armbands. The reporter struck up a conversation with those manning the forum’s stall, expressing interest in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Among them was Shazad Ali, a former UCL student. Ali, although not a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, offered to introduce the reporter to the group. He said it did not matter what name the party used to spread its philosophy.
Members had a duty to “spread their message, not their name”. Ali said: “You definitely can’t have (Jews) as close friends.” A few days later, at a human rights demonstration at the Uzbek embassy in London, Ali introduced the reporter to Thaqib Razaq, 18, an A-level pupil and a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Razaq, from Walthamstow, northeast London, described how he had asked a Hizb ut-Tahrir “sheikh”, a senior member, what would happen if he became a suicide bomber. He said the reply was: “I can strap a bomb to myself and kill as many people as I can. I”m going to die shahid (martyr) and go to jannah (heaven).”