After repeated threats by the extremist Taliban against the Peshawar Press Club, on December 22, 2009, a suicide bomber attacked the media site in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing several individuals.
DAWN reported on the threats by the Taliban against the Peshawar Press Club, and the increased security measures that made no difference in preventing the suicide bomber attack: “Taliban militants, who are powerful in northwest Pakistan, threatened media in Peshawar, said the president of the press club, Shamim Shahid. ‘We beefed up security after the threats and people coming to the club were properly checked,’ he said.”
Just slightly over a week earlier, other reports had shown how the Peshawar Press Club had become site for those arguing about “conspiracies” of the U.S. against Pakistan, and arguing that Pakistan should support the Afghanistan Taliban’s “nationalistic” goal. On December 16, 2009, Dawn reported that “On Monday, the Peshawar Press Club was the venue of a seminar entitled ‘Conspiracies of US and India against Pakistan’ at which the speakers advocated talks with the Taliban on the grounds that the fight in Afghanistan is a ‘nationalist struggle’ and the violence in Pakistan is the direct result of the American presence in the region.”
Anti-democracy, extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir has also repeatedlyappeared at the Peshawar Press Club. On December 20, 2009 in Chicago, Hizb ut-Tahrir America hosted an event calling for an end to military activities against the Taliban. Hizb ut-Tahrir recently provided an “open letter to the Ulema of Pakistan” in which it states that “America is an open, hostile, kafir enemy of Muslims.”
Press agency Sify reports that the suicide bomber was a teenager: “An eyewitness said the suicide bomber appeared to be 17 or 18 years old.”
Journalists assist a man who was injured in a suicide bomb attack at the site at the gate of the Press club in Peshawar, located in NWFP on December 22, 2009. (Reuters )
Pew Global Poll Results – Worst Nations for Religious Freedom
Pew Poll – Very High
Top 5% of scores Saudi Arabia – OIC Nation
Iran – OIC Nation
Uzbekistan – OIC Nation
China – Communist
Egypt – OIC Nation
Burma (Myanmar)
Maldives – OIC Nation
Eritrea
Malaysia – OIC Nation
Brunei – OIC Nation
Pew Poll – High
Next 15% of scores Indonesia – OIC Nation
Mauritania – OIC Nation
Pakistan – OIC Nation
Turkey – OIC Nation
Vietnam – Communist Nation
Algeria – OIC Nation
Belarus
Russia
Turkmenistan – OIC Nation
Libya – OIC Nation
Sudan – OIC Nation
Tajikistan – OIC Nation
Jordan – OIC Nation
Afghanistan – OIC Nation
Morocco – OIC Nation
Laos – Communist
Syria – OIC Nation
India
Tunisia – OIC Nation
Azerbaijan – OIC Nation
Kuwait – OIC Nation
Kazakhstan – OIC Nation
Yemen – OIC Nation
Iraq – OIC Nation
Western Sahara
Bulgaria
Singapore
Moldova
Greece
Israel
Cuba – Communist Nation
Oman – OIC Nation
Somalia* – OIC Nation
Out of 43 Nations Ranked “Very High” and “High” in Terms of Deny Religious Freedom – 30 were OIC nations — 70 percent of the Very High and High Nations Ranked is denying religious freedom – being OIC nations
— “A Christian man has been languishing for over three years in a Pakistan jail on charges of “blasphemy against Islam” and his family has expressed concerns over his health, BosNewsLife has established.”
— “Qamar David, a 50-year-old married father with four children, was arrested in 2006 for allegedly sending blasphemous messages against Islam, charges he strongly denies, his defense team told BosNewsLife.”
— “Khalid Gill, a regional leader of rights group All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), said David was taken into police custody in May 2006 and eventually moved to Karachi Prison in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He said his family was not allowed to see him for two years.”
— “Gill linked the controversial case to a business dispute with Muslims. Rights groups say David is among several innocent Christians who have been detained across Pakistan, where blasphemy legislation has often been misused to settle personal grievances.”
“Pakistani Muslims Gun Down Christian Friend”
— CDN reports: “A group of Muslims shot their Christian friend dead this month on the outskirts of this town after saying they would spare his life only if he recanted his faith, according to the young man’s father.”
— “The friends of Patras Masih, who died from gunshot wounds on Dec. 3 in Karol village, Punjab Province, issued the ultimatum to him after accusing him of the murder of their friend Anees Mahammad. An autopsy reported showed Mahammad died from toxic alcohol earlier that day.”
— “Patras Masih’s father, Gulzar Masih, said his son was at home on that day, had no contact with Mahammad, and that his friends accused him of the murder only because he refused to recant Christianity and embrace Islam.”
In the Chicago suburbs on December 20, 2009, a group that has conspired to deny Americans their Constitutional and civil rights will be using a government-managed facility to recruit new members to their extremist cause. In this case it will be the extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir America organization, which will be using the Lombard Park District community building in the Village of Lombard.
Hizb ut-Tahrir America has sought to intimidate those who would exercise their Constitutionally-protected religious freedom by stating that in the global “Khilafah” of Muslims those who “publicly abandon Islam” should know “that they will be killed for it.” According to Hizb ut-Tahrir America’s handouts in the Chicago suburbs, those who choose such religious freedom are committing “an open attack on the basis of the state which is Islam, essentially it is viewed as treason and a political attack on the Khilafah in order to undermine it”… which according to Hizb ut-Tahrir America deserves “the death penalty.” On July 19, 2009, in full view of local law enforcement (and reportedly federal law enforcement) in Oak Lawn, Illinois, Hizb ut-Tahrir handed out this brochure calling for “the death penalty” against “apostates” from Islam to a reported 700 attendees at this conference.
Emboldened, Hizb ut-Tahrir America’s latest recruitment activity on December 20 will now be using a government-managed community building in the village of Lombard. There is no public denunciation by government officials. There is no public condemnation of this anti-democracy international Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, with a long history of making death threats both in the U.S. and aroundthe world. There is no public call for Hizb ut-Tahrir to retract its continuing promotion in the United States of a document calling for “the death penalty” against “apostates.”
Wouldn’t we be outraged if white supremacists were using a government-managedcommunity building to hold meetings? Wouldn’t we be more than outraged if such a white supremacist group had been calling for the “death penalty” for white Americans who disagreed with their supremacist views? Wouldn’t we be demanding legal and law enforcement action to end such a conspiracy to violate others’ civil rights through intimidation?
At what point are open and public death threats (in writing no less) by extremist roups to specific identity groups recognized by our government and law enforcement as nothing less than conspiracies to violate protected American civil rights? At what point is the use of public facilities to call for the “death” of identity groups recognized as a hate crime?
In America and around the world, we have seen the consequences of failing to take action against extremist groups inciting hatred against others with death threats. Hizb ut-Tahrir and similar groups’ calls for “death” against others is considered a call to action for those who share this philosophy of hate. Just last month, on November 2, in Arizona, a 20 year old girl Noor Almaleki died from an attack by her father for not adhering to what his family told the Arizona Republic were “Muslim values.” We are certain that the majority of Muslim Americans would reject such views, but we have also seen similar killings in Ohio, Indianapolis, Texas, and Georgia. Who is next to die as a result because of such jate?
Death threats by extremist organizations have very real, very deadly consequences. It is past time for Illinois and the federal government to act on the conspiracy by Hizb ut-Tahrir America to deny Americans’ freedom of religion, by its publicly calling for the death of those who seek such freedoms. It is not only an outrage; it is also a growing conspiracy to use intimidation tactics of death threats to violate our rights as American citizens.
The logo of the Hizb ut-Tahrir extremistt organization with its Black Flag of Extremism
Pakistan: “Girl sold in open auction”
— The Nation reports – “no one condemned” the open slavery sale:
— “A 20-year-old girl was auctioned at village Badani Bhutto of Taluka Kashmore in consideration of Rs2,70,000 on Saturday.”
— “Azizan, daughter of late Allah Bux Bhutto, was divorced on the allegation of Karo-kari some time back. She is stated to be mother of two children and was residing with her brother who held the open auction for her ‘sale’ at village Badani Bhutto.”
— “A large number of villagers showed interest in the auction that started with Rs50,000 and ended at Rs270,000. Bilawal Bhutto, 50, of the same village purchased her for the said amount. Initially he paid Rs210,000 for the girl.”
— “Maulana Azizullah Bhutto performed their nikah later.
— “It is irony of the situation that no one condemned the inhuman act. The groom will take the bride to his house after paying the rest of the amount. The auction money was distributed equally among all the brothers of the girl.”
Pakistan: “Allegedly Poison Christian Employees to Death”
— CDN reports: “Two brothers die, third in critical condition, after complaining they were not paid.”
— “Muslim employers of three Christian sanitation workers at a banquet/wedding hall here allegedly poisoned the three workers yesterday, killing two of them; at press time the third was struggling for life in intensive care.”
— “The father of the three workers, Yousaf Masih, said the owner of the hall, along with the manager, poisoned his sons because they were Christians who had dared to ask for pay owed to them.”
— “Imran Masih, 29, and Irfan Masih, 25, died at the Ferozewala Pul Banquet & Marriage Hall after being forced to drink something that was heavily poisoned, Yousaf Masih said. The third worker, 23-year-old Aakash Masih, was in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit of Civil Hospital Gujranwala, in Punjab Province.”
— ” ‘It appears from the position they were in that they were forced to consume some kind of poisoned drink, or a drug, and they were left there to die,’ Yousaf Masih said. ‘The administration of the banquet and wedding hall did not call a hospital or take them to a hospital – instead they called us after the death of two of our loved ones.’ “
Image from Hizb ut-Tahrir America's Web Site Promoting a Chicago Suburb Event on Pakistan on December 20
In July, the London Times reported on British members of Hizb ut-Tahrir that had been incited to go to Pakistan to seek to influence Pakistan military members and others to instigate a “coup” against the current Pakistan government. The London Times report described how Hizb ut-Tahrir members’ “aim was to subject Muslim and western countries to Islamic rule under sharia law, ‘by force’ if necessary”… where ” ‘every woman would have to cover up’ and stoning to death for adultery and the chopping off of thieves’ hands would be the law, he said.” The London Times report added that Hizb ut-Tahrir aims of “Islamic rule would be spread through ‘indoctrination’ and by ‘military means’ if non-Muslim countries refused to bow to it. ‘Waging war’ would be part of the caliphate’s foreign policy.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir America has rented the Lombard Community Building at 433 East St. Charles Road for their December 20, 2009 event from 5:00 to 6:30 PM Central Time. We are certain that the Village of Lombard Parks District and Lombard Government has no idea who and what Hizb ut-Tahrir is, nor would they even think to inquire. We urge readers to contact the Lombard government and media to make them aware of this.
Chicago suburb - Lombard, IL Govt-Managed Community Center -- where Hizb ut-Tahrir plans to meet on December 20
Like Hizb ut-Tahrir Canada’s use of a government facility for their event in July, Hizb ut-Tahrir America is counting on use of such government facilities to spread anti-democratic views and opposition to religious freedom by using smaller cities’ parks and recreation facilities, anticipating that there will be limited scrutiny to their applications for use of government facilities.
In recent weeks, a major United Kingdom university stopped the Hizb ut-Tahrir from using public university facilities for a debate. On December 10, BBC reported that attempts by the Hizb ut-Tahrir to hold a public event at Queen Mary College was canceled once the media reported about them. In their report BBC stated about Hizb ut-Tahrir that “A leaflet displayed on its website once urged Muslims to ‘kill [Jews] wherever you find them’.” A spokesman for Student Rights told BBC that “Hizb ut-Tahrir speakers have been known to condone suicide bombings and support Islamist movements which undertake terrorist acts such as Islamic Violent Extemism.”
“Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamist network that is committed to creating an Islamic Caliphate that spans the globe. The organization is banned in Germany and Russia as well as several Arab countries and targets Muslim children between the ages of 9 and 18. Many compare their efforts to organizations like the Hitler Youth. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, is counted among their alumnus.”
Dr. Jasser stated that “Hizb ut-Tahrir preaches an ideology that calls for the destruction of the principles that America is founded on.”
BBC television broadcast on its Panorama television show on the Hizb ut-Tahrir, interviewing a British “influential Muslim figure” who stated about Hizb ut-Tahrir to BBC: “I believe that if Hizb ut-Tahrir are not stopped at this stage and we continue to let them to politicize and pollute the youngsters’ minds and other gullible peoples minds, that what will happen in effect is that these terrorism acts and these suicide bombings that we hear going on around us in foreign countries, we will actually start seeing these incidents happening right outside our doorsteps.”
Clip from BBC Panorama TV Show on Hizb ut-TahrirAnother Clip from BBC Panorama TV Show on Hizb ut-Tahrir
We support our unqualified, universal human rights for all. We urge Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters to drop the burden of the hate of supremacism from their hearts, and to rejoin the family of humanity in support of our universal human rights.
Resources for Additional Action and Research:
R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm Leads Protestors to Challenge Hizb ut-Tahrir
The Lombardian, which publishes Wednesday, 1-630-627-7010 , Email: lombardian@sbcglobal.net
E.A.MacKay Enterprises, 116 S. Main Street, Lombard, IL 60148, Speak Out!: 1-630-629-TALK
— July 4, 2009 – London Times: “British Islamists plot against Pakistan”
— Hizb ut-Tahrir calls for “the creation of the caliphate in which strict Islamic laws would be rigorously enforced”
— “Tayyib Muqeem, an English teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, said he had moved to Lahore to convert Pakistanis to the movement.”
— “At Lahore’s Superior College, where Muqeem has set up a Hizb ut-Tahrir student group, he said the organisation’s aim was to subject Muslim and western countries to Islamic rule under sharia law, ‘by force’ if necessary”
— “In a caliphate, ‘every woman would have to cover up’ and stoning to death for adultery and the chopping off of thieves’ hands would be the law, he said”
— “He added that Islamic rule would be spread through ‘indoctrination’ and by ‘military means’ if non-Muslim countries refused to bow to it. ‘Waging war’ would be part of the caliphate’s foreign policy.”
— BBC: Hizb ut Tahrir
— “Hizb Ut Tahrir or HT is an Islamic splinter group, which is banned in many countries around the world. It operates freely in Britain.”
— “But Newsnight has discovered that its website promotes racism and anti-Semitic hatred, calls suicide bombers martyrs, and urges Muslims to kill Jewish people.”
— “The party has expressed support of suicide bombings in Israel. It denounces Western governments and what it sees as their lackey regimes in the Middle East.”
— “In Denmark, HT’s spokesman has been found guilty of distributing racist propaganda.”
— April 2008 – Daily Telegraph: “Islamists ‘urge young Muslims to use violence'”
— “Hizb ut Tahrir, which wants to overthrow democracy and establish a worldwide Islamic theocracy, distributed leaflets to young Muslims inciting them to resist the occupation of Islamic lands, according to a TV documentary by a former group member.”
— “One leaflet read: ‘Your forefathers destroyed the first crusader campaigns. Should you not proceed like them and destroy the new crusaders?'”
— “‘Let the armies move to help the Muslims in Iraq, for they seek your help.’ Another leaflet, handed out last August, pours scorn on the UN and tells followers to embark on a Violent Extemism, or ‘holy war’.”
— “The Panorama documentary contains the first testimony indicating it has advocated the use of force. The group has been accused of fuelling terrorism in the past, but has always denied involvement in any form of violent activity.”
— “Omar Shariff, the first UK suicide bomber, who blew himself up in a Tel Aviv bar in 2003, is alleged to have been radicalised by Hizb ut Tahrir.”
— “Panorama has also uncovered a speech made in August last year by Ata Abu-Rishta, the global leader of Hizb ut Tahrir, when he called for the “destruction” of Hindus living in Kashmir, Russians in Chechnya and Jews in Israel.”
— “‘The Caliphate (global Islamic government) will liberate the countries and the people from the influence of the Kafer (non-believer) and its allies and the tyranny of its men and followers,’ he said.”
— “Rishta also spoke recently at its annual conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, where, as video footage in the Panorama expose shows, he whipped the 100,000-strong crowd into a frenzy by calling for a war on Jews. Saleem Atchia, a senior member of Hizb ut Tahrir UK, later made a firebrand speech from the same platform.”
— “Maher, a former friend of the bombers who tried to blow up Glasgow Airport in June and the organisation’s north-east ‘director’ until he left in 2005, claims its aims are the same the world over.”
— “He says its British disciples believe they will eventually fight on these shores.”
— “‘Hizb ut Tahrir despises democracy and believes Shariah law must be imposed over the whole world, by force if necessary,’ he said.”
— “‘I think unless we challenge this we are sleepwalking into a very dangerous future.'”
— UK Guardian: “leaflets handed out by Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters in Copenhagen which claimed suicide bombings in Israel were ‘legitimate’ acts of ‘martyrdom'”
