You may have seen in the news last week that the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) has been proscribed by the government, which means that they are now on a list of banned terrorist organisations and thus either belonging to, or showing support for this organisation is illegal and carries a potential prison sentence from hereon in.
Background:
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s stated long-term goal is to unify Muslims worldwide and establish a Caliphate ruled under Islamic (Shari’a) law. It summarises its approach as nonviolent, involving the presentation of ‘Islamic solutions to address contemporary problems’.
Some of HT’s views such as being anti-democracy, misogynistic and homophobic, have resulted in their being banned in many other countries for some time, including Germany, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In the UK we take freedom of speech and expression very seriously, so the threshold for proscription is high – however, since October 7th, HT have shown overt support for Hamas and the atrocities that took place in Israel that day, including calling Hamas ‘the heroes of Palestine’. This means that they have crossed a line into violence and encouraging terrorism and can no longer be tolerated.
How might this affect you?
Historically, Hizb ut-Tahrir have had a small but committed following in parts of Derby city. It is possible that the renewed media interest and attention may conversely bring about some increased interest and engagement with young people in the city. Coupled with this are the understandably heightened emotions and sense of helplessness felt by some of our young people around the current events in Israel and Palestine, which could add to the radicalisation risk.
We don’t yet know if this will happen and we are hoping it won’t, but I just wanted to make you aware, so that you know you can contact me for help and advice around this matter should you need it.
Resource:
“Sometimes young people are attracted by extremist narratives. This can be a result of dissatisfaction with an aspect of the current state of affairs, or a desire to radically change the situation. By teaching students about how change can be effected within democracies, both peacefully and within the law, we develop a positive perspective that also helps build resilience to being drawn into extremism or violence.”
If you have any questions contact Sally Siner at Sally.Siner@derby.gov.uk