UK Finally Bans Hizb Ut-Tahrir as Terrorist Organization

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Step by step, Arab terrorist groups are being banned In the countries of Western Europe. Now both wings of Hamas, the “political” and the “military” wings, have both been banned in more than 40 countries. And the same is true for Hezbollah, with the notable exception of France, that continues to allow the “political wing” of the group to operate in the Hexagon. More on this can be found here: “British Home Secretary Announces Ban Against ‘Antisemitic’ Hizb ut-Tahrir Organization,” by Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, January 15, 2024:

Britain has declared global Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a proscribed terrorist organization, subject to agreement by parliament, interior minister James Cleverly said on Monday [Jan. 15].

Britain’s proscription of the Sunni terrorist political group – which puts it on par with al-Qaeda or ISIS – will come into force from Jan. 19 if agreed by parliament, the Home Office said.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an antisemitic organization that actively promotes and encourages terrorism, including praising and celebrating the appalling 7 October attacks,” he said in a statement referring to attacks by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Israel.

The group’s praise of the attacks, as well as describing Hamas as heroes on their website, constituted promoting and encouraging terrorism, Cleverly added.

But what about the leaders in the Palestinian Authority, including Mahmoud Abbas himself, who have praised the Hamas atrocities on October 7 that they describe as “resistance” attacks? Are they not “promoting and encouraging terrorism”? Shouldn’t the UK be banning members of the PA from the UK? And what about the tens of thousands of people who have taken part in often violent pro-Hamas protests in London? Aren’t they, too, “promoting and encouraging terrorism”? Couldn’t their protest marches in praise of Hamas be banned for that reason? The UK government must now make hard decisions: how wide does it want to spread its net to capture those who “promote and encourage terrorism”?

The organization also has a history of praising and celebrating attacks against Jewish people, he added.

Proscription means that it will be a criminal offense in Britain to belong to or promote the group, arrange its meetings, and carry its logo in public.

That should put paid to Hizb ut-Tahrir in the UK as long as the British police, who in recent years have had a wretched record of not aggressively breaking up the grooming gangs, formed by Pakistanis to turn tens of thousands of English girls into their sex slaves, lest they be accused of “racism” and “Islamophobia,” change their ways and go after Hizb ut-Tahrir’s members and supporters hammer and tongs. I suspect the police will do so; they were the object of a great deal of scorn over the grooming-gang failure and they don’t want a repetition.

Those breaching the rules could face up to 14 years in jail.

Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron both tried to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, according to the Telegraph, which advocates for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate governed by religious law.

Founded in 1953 and headquartered in Lebanon, Hizb ut-Tahrir operates in 32 countries including in Britain and other Western nations, with a long-term goal of establishing a caliphate ruled under Islamic law, the Home Office said.

It has been banned by Germany, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and several Central Asian and Arab nations.

Now that the UK has banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, surely it will be time for the United States to do so as well. Indeed, it is inexplicable that until now Washington has not banned the group. And what about Hezbollah? Like Hizb ut-Tahrir, it is both an antisemitic and a terrorist group. Hezbollah has dug terror tunnels into the northern Galilee to kidnap soldiers, assassinated Lebanese political figures including Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, and continues to intermittently fire rockets into civilian villages in northern Israel. The US, the UK, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands are among the nations that have banned both the “political” and “military” wings of Hezbollah. But more pressure needs to be brought to bear by these countries on allies in Europe who still allow Hezbollah’s “military wing” to operate, especially France. Once France bans the entirety of Hezbollah, the other holdouts in the EU will quickly follow suit.

In mid-October, President Macron banned all pro-Palestinian protests. This admirable effort was modified by a subsequent French court decision ruling that the banning of pro-Palestinian protests had to be decided on a case-by-case basis. But still, it shows a new and admirable willingness by the French government to take on the pro-Palestinian mobs and to go far beyond what the US and the UK have done to curb such protests. On November 2, Germany banned all Hamas activities in the country, of both its “political” and “military” wings, which was welcome, though at the same time a bit unsettling to realize that it had taken so long for the Germans to do what so obviously needed doing.

Now what is needed is a ban, in the countries of Western Europe and North America, on groups that have praised Hamas despite full knowledge of its atrocities. This means, in the US, directly taking on CAIR, whose executive director and co-founder, Nihad Awad, has said that he was “happy to see” the Hamas attacks on October 7. Get cracking, Congressmen. Tote that briefcase, pass that bill. Make CAIR unhappy.