Ramallah; where everything old is new again

At the end of June, I wrote about an old militant group which has been gaining a significant foothold in the Middle East from the West. Arutz Sheva carries this report of the goings-on in Ramallah:

IsraelNN.com) An international movement that has made the Islamic call for a worldwide Caliphate its trademark held a conference in Ramallah on Saturday. With this conference, Hizb Ut-Tahrir Al-Islami (the Islamic Liberation Party) has formally established a branch in the

Palestinian Authority. PA media reported that the event was attended by thousands of participants under the banner, "Caliphate: The Coming Force". The movement said that the establishment of a Caliphate, a global Muslim empire, is the only way to liberate Muslims from "racism," "degradation," and "occupation." Hizb Ut-Tahrir leader Ata Khalil Abu Al-Rashtha said that the Ramallah gathering was the first of its kind in the PA. Al-Rashta is a civil engineer from Hevron region.

According to the PA-based Ma'an news agency, the first of two lectures delivered at the conference addressed the many conflicts around the world that involve Muslims. The speaker set forth the idea that Caliphate is the only solution to "rescue" Muslims from their various local predicaments.

The second lecture, titled "Media and the Issue of Caliphate," suggested that Muslims should make sure the Caliphate and discussion of global Islamic rule is the first priority of the media. The Caliphate, the speaker argued, was imperative to Muslim unity. According to the Hizb Ut-Tahrir website, "Hizb Ut-Tahrir is a political party whose ideology is Islam. Its objective is to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing an Islamic State that executes the systems of Islam and carries its call to the world." The organization was founded in 1952 in Jerusalem.

Ultimately, Hizb Ut-Tahrir wants to see a Caliphate, accepted by the Muslim masses, that spreads Islam in the world through da'wa (persuasion) and jihad. Until that point, the group focuses on educating Muslims about its goals, spreading these views among others in their countries and causing un-Islamic governments to disintegrate.

Just the kind of progressive thinking the West Bank had a real shortage of. Oh, and just where do Uizb Ut-Tahrir members think the headquarters of the new Islamic Caliphate should be located? Quick ten guesses! And the answer is - Jerusalem, of course.