London, UK, May 19th 2008 – Nearly a thousand delegates attended Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain’s public meeting – Palestine – 60 years of occupation and oppression in London yesterday. As others celebrated 60 years of occupation by Israel and Gordon Brown claimed that ‘the creation of the state of Israel was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century’, the meeting discussed the real problem of brutal occupation and how the Khilafah state would liberate Palestine, and build a society built on justice for all its citizens, regardless of race and religion.
Tthe meeting discussed the real problem of brutal occupation and how the Khilafah state would liberate Palestine, and build a society built on justice for all its citizens, regardless of race and religion.
The meeting was addressed by prominent members of Hizb ut-Tahrir: Taji Mustafa [UK Media Representative], Hassan Al-Hassan [UK Media Representative], Sajjad Khan and Dr AbdulWahid [UK Executive Committee Chairman] and chaired by Jamal Harwood.
The issues addressed included:
1. The brutal reality of the occupation over sixty years. It was said that whilst many in the west (rightly) highlight the oppression in places such as Burma and Zimbabwe, it was Palestine that was the real horror story of the past six decades that is all too often ignored.
2. Israel was founded through the violence of the Stern and Irgun terrorists, the ethnic cleansing of 700,000 Palestinians and the establishment of a brutal militarised apartheid ‘state’ which has no compulsion dehumanising, imprisoning and killing men, women and children. It would be almost impossible to understand how any nation could recognise Israel after such brutality and injustice, never mind that Islam fundamentally never accepts occupation. Israel would forever be considered an illegitimate entity – just as Europeans did not accept Hitler’s invasion of France and Czechoslovakia, and Britain did not accept the occupation of the Falklands.
3. Calls for a ‘two state solution’ in effect meant surrendering the land and appeasing Israel’s aggression and ethnic cleansing. Indeed, Ehud Olmert himself conceded that it is Israel’s last chance to protect its illegal gains.
4. Demands for an end to western colonial interference in the region and throughout the Muslim world as such external interference has always been to serve the strategic interests of the external powers and can deliver nothing other than more misery and bloodshed. This has been evident from the outset, as the British chose to site the Jewish ‘homeland’ in the place of maximum insecurity for the region, but maximum gain to itself. Similarly, sixty years later the US tries to maintain its influence in the Middle East by its proxy in the region – turning a blind eye to all its countless crimes.
5. A call to replace the existing despotic regimes in the Muslim world, who attack Israel in speeches but protect it in reality, negotiating a surrender of Palestine as dictated by their masters in the West. These regimes had more than enough capanbility interms of human, economic, strategic and military resources to end the oppression and liberate the land now, but absolutely no political will. Muslims were asked to support the call for the Islamic solution for Palestine: the Islamic Khilafah state.
6 . The Khilafah state is a model that would bring real justice to the region, replacing the tyrants and dictators in the Muslim world, liberating the occupied land, throwing off the shackles of colonialism, ending oppression and establishing a system over the Muslim world that will allow Jews, Christians and Muslims to live together. History and the rules of Islam with regards to citizenship are a testimony to this.
7. Muslims were asked to stand with the people of Palestine in their time of need, stand for the Islamic solution for the region and to stand against pressures from politicians and media in the west, who quite hypocritically see the non-recognition of Israel as part of their definition of extremism, frequently throwing accusations of anti-Semitism against anti-Zionists.
