Pan-Islamic movement becomes political player in Palestine
Hizb ut-Tahrir in the Palestinian territories emerged as a political party that seeks the return of the Islamic caliphate, unlike Hamas and other Islamic parties that focus on the resistance against Israel.
Palestinian worshipers who support Hizb ut-Tahrir protested the visit on May 22 of Chief Justice of Jordan and cleric Ahmed Halil’s visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque, after Halil’s bodyguards beat an elderly man who opposed the visit. This angered the worshipers and fueled the protests inside the mosque.
Palestinian worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque tried to stop Halil from delivering the Friday sermon by chanting slogans against him as soon as he approached the pulpit. Hilal was then forced to back away, and another preacher replaced him.
On May 23, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Alyan accused Hamas of inciting Hizb ut-Tahrir to attack the Jordanian guest.
Maher al-Jabari, a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s media office, denied that activists were responsible for obstructing Halil’s visit and sermon. He considered what happened as an expression of the popular opposition to the normalization of visits to Jerusalem under the protection of the Israeli occupation.
