Chicago Suburb Hosts Hizb ut-Tahrir Conference; Organization Aims to Re-Establish an International Islamic State (Caliphate), Supports Jihad

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

We’ve been following stories about Sharia law and finance for quite some time, and American Lassie has alerted us to another related development.

Here’s some basic information on the story with a thanks to the Investigative Project on Terrorism:

Pro-Terror Group to Meet in Chicago Suburb

IPT News
July 10, 2009

Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international movement seeking to re-establish an international Islamic state – or Caliphate – and to indoctrinate Muslims into supporting jihad, wants to step up its recruitment efforts in the United States. On July 19, the group, whose alumni include 9/ 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and suicide bombers, will hold a conference entitled “The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam” in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Oak Lawn, Ill, a Chicago suburb.

For decades, Hizb ut-Tahrir America (HTA) has operated covertly, holding these Khalifa (Caliphate) conferences in the United States under the name of front organizations. But that has begun to change. Last fall, the group issued a leaflet in its own name urging Muslims to boycott the U.S. elections. The group just released this video promoting the July 19 conference. According to the conference website, the program includes a question-and-answer session and two panels; one entitled “Capitalism is Doomed to Fail,” the other “The Suffering Under Capitalism.”

The conference initially was scheduled for the Aqsa School in Bridgeview, Ill. But the school withdrew, claiming Hizb ut-Tahrir officials “misrepresented themselves.” An official said the group approached the school in late April claiming it wanted to hold a bazaar-type event in July that would involve selling traditional food and clothing. School officials said that when they learned the real purpose, they cancelled and refunded the group’s deposit.

I located a video report on the conference at the WLS website (WLS is the local ABC affiliate in Chicago).  A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations claims Hzib ut-Tahrir’s teachings “are not based on authentic Islamic doctrine” and “the proper response” to their teachings  “is that their philosphy should be debunked.”  According to the report, approximately 700 attendees flowed through the event during the day. The cover of the event program was shown in the video.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism‘s story continues–note the numbers of members in Indonesia, Barack Obama’s childhood home:

While solid numbers are difficult to come by, there is little question that Hizb ut-Tahrir’s worldwide membership has grown substantially since the September 11 attacks, says Madeleine Gruen, a senior analyst with the NEFA Foundation. In 2003, estimates of HT membership ranged from 10,000 to 100,000 people worldwide. Today, by contrast, the group (currently active in more than 40 countries) has approximately 100,000 members in Indonesia alone and “many thousands” more around the world, Gruen told IPT News.

In the United States, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s following is estimated at no more than a few hundred. The decision to hold this month’s conference under its own name is a sign that the group is preparing to raise its profile. Once that is achieved, Gruen adds, its cadres are supposed to establish “an Islamic government and military” in order to take Hizb ut-Tahrir’s message to the world.

HT seeks to fuse an ideology combining orthodox Islam, Marxist-Leninist economics, anti-Semitism and opposition to Western democracy into a political program to bring back the Caliphate. Despite its public rhetoric about nonviolence, Hizb ut-Tahrir has “precisely the same ideology and objectives” as al Qaeda, Gruen told IPT News. And HT has a much larger membership base to recruit from, she added.

While it refrains from carrying out terrorist actions itself, Hizb ut-Tahrir glorifies jihadism and excoriates the terrorist organization Hamas as being too soft on Israel. In a leaflet posted on its website July 1, HT said that if the Caliphate were in existence, all of “Palestine” would be rid of “the usurpation of the Jewish occupiers” and brought “to the fold of the Islamic state.”

MORE

I tracked down the group’s website and found the very sophisticated page of the Media Office, which includes a radio channel. If you click on the headline for 26 Rajab 1430 titled Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Forthcoming Rajab Events: Latest Update you will arrive at a page that has video about all the events worldwide that were held on July 19.  Countries holding conferences included the Ukraine, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Bangladesh. The conference in Lebanon apparently had a theme called “Jihad in Islam.”

In Britain, there are “2 global conferences to take place in London and Birmingham on 26th July 2009 and 2nd August 2009. The conferences are entitled “The Struggle for Islam and the Call for Khilafah“. There is a video with information about these conferences and you can link directly to Hzib ut-Tharir’s British site from this page.

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American Lassie’s April 14, 2009 post entitled Sharia Finance: Rapidly Increasing Inroads Via American Banks…With the Help of Our Treasury Department details other aspects of the inroads being made here in the U.S. It is a must read!

Other relevant pieces that we have posted here at IA include:

The Scanner–Politics March 18, 2009: (Taitz-Supreme Court; Sharia Law in Minnesota re: Home Mortgages; Stimulus Money Wanders from the States; Privatizing Vets’ Healthcare)

The SCANNER-Politics 11/7/08: Newsweek Editors on Charlie Rose in the SCARIEST Description of Obama So Far…(Video/Partially Transcripted); Sharia Hits the Treasury Department/HARVARD Alert!; Hill the Shill (UPDATE 1X)

While Hillary and Sarah Get Trashed in the U.S., Muslim Women in Britain Get Sharia Law

Obama-Odinga:50-50 Split Demands Sound SOOOO FAMILIAR…(UPDATE 1X–Author of “The Obama Nation” Detained in Kenya; UPDATE 2X–Corsi Released, Odinga Official Website

We’ll keep watching for any further developments on this front…