Following the tragedy that happened at the Likoni ferry crossing, Hizb ut Tahrir East Africa wishes to convey its deepest condolences to friends and relatives who lost their loved ones. Also we wish a speedy recovery for those injured in the tragedy.
n the 23rd of January 2013, the Prime Minister of Malaysia paid, what was described as ‘a humanitarian visit' to Gaza City to show ‘solidarity and steadfast support of Malaysia and its people to the Palestinian struggle.' He was received by the Gaza Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh who declared that "this is an Islamic declaration for breaking the Israeli siege on Gaza." In his speech, Najib "admired the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and considered the struggle as not just for Palestinians but also for the Ummah." He then added that the aggression of Israel is ‘unacceptable and against all the principles of the United Nations.' Najib also called for the Palestinians to reconcile, in which he hoped that a recent thaw between Hamas and Fatah, would lead to a unity government.
His visit was also covered by various national and international media, including the American media. Many of the media reports suggested that Najib's visit was used by Hamas to project it as a "stand against Israel". The general tenor of the U.S. media coverage suggests that while Najib embarked on what he described as a humanitarian trip, his hosts tried to project it as a case of unflinching support for Hamas.
It is valid to say that for Muslims in general, whether Muslims of Malaysia or Muslims everywhere else in the world, the Palestinian issue is indeed an issue that sinks deep in our hearts. Muslims in general do feel for their brothers and sisters in Palestine and are always in their du'a. Najib's visit, to many, is seen as a sign of solidarity among Muslims, although there are voices within the Malaysian media, especially the opposition media, that his visit to Gaza is just a act to win votes in the coming Malaysian election. Despite all these, what is important is for us to understand the visit and the issue of Palestine from the viewpoint of Islam. Najib, and indeed this is true for all Muslim leaders, even if they do sincerely care about what is happening in Palestine, looks at the problem and solution of the Palestinian issue in a totally erroneous, if not condemnable way. The crisis we are witnessing now is really, not a Palestinian problem, rather it is a Jewish problem. The very existence of the Jewish state should be at the very heart of every question raised or discussed around the Palestinian issue. Israel was created over Muslim land robbed and Muslim blood spilled by the Zionists in 1948. Then its borders were extended, leaving only Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. This situation should never be accepted by any Muslim. Unfortunately this is exactly the accepted condition and the minds of many Muslims, in particular Muslim leaders like Najib have been moulded to see the Palestinian issue as a Palestinian problem, a problem related to the coexistence of two ‘UN endorsed states', rather than a Jewish problem, a problem related to the robbing and raping, by the Zionists, of the blessed land.
The authorities of Palestine, Hamas and Fatah have committed grievous crimes by accepting and rejoicing over the resolution of UN that Palestine borders are those established up to 1967. These criminals raised their hands in victory over a hideous resolution. They claimed victory over UN acceptance of Palestine as ‘a non member observer state'. In reality, the rejoice only brings a happy smile to the Kuffar and pushes the real solution to the issue even farther away. Najib may have been sincere in his caring gestures to our brothers and sisters in Palestine, but he certainly stands among those who rejoiced to the ‘solution' crafted by the enemies of Islam. His belief in the ‘principles of UN' testifies to this. Oh! How we hope that the next visit to Palestine by a Malaysian is a visit by a sincere Wali of our Wilayah, rejoicing in the defeat of the Jews and the return of the blessed land to the Islamic Ummah!
Dr. Muhammad - Malaysia
A few weeks ago, India erupted in anger as a 23-year-old female student died from injuries sustained after she was gang raped in New Delhi. The case shocked India and sparked a debate about the treatment of women. Following the incident, news reports around the world highlighted the many reasons why women face sexual harassment in Indian society. They talked about the patriarchal nature of the society, the outrageous comments made by several politicians regarding the causes of rape, the length of time rape cases took to come to trial, and the number of members of parliament who were accused of rape but continued with their political careers and several other factors. They also repeated certain statistics to indicate how widespread this crime is in Indian society. The BBC and other outlets repeated the claim that India is a country where a rape is reported every 21 minutes,
In India, just over a quarter of the alleged rape perpetrators were convicted in 2010 while in the U.S., only 24 percent of the alleged rapes even resulted in an arrest, let alone a conviction. So some statistics appeared to disprove the popular notion that women were safer in the developed West compared to the rest of the world.
A few days ago, I noticed a tweet from the respected Channel 4 news reporter regarding the updated figures for sexual crimes in England and Wales. I was surprised because the figures were higher than the previous official figures.
The figures compiled by the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics suggest that about 1,000 rapists are convicted every year despite up to 95,000 people being subjected to rape. The same figures showed that nearly 500,000 people are victims of sexual crimes in England and Wales over a twelve month period and that 1 in 20 women has been the victim of a serious sexual assault including rape, and that 90% of these victims actually knew the perpetrator.
As these horrendous figures were released, I wondered if there would be a huge debate and soul searching as to the causes and remedies. After all, these were figures for England, not far away India, so surely there would be a lot of discussion on the main current affairs programmes. It was not to be. I noticed some newspaper coverage and a few brief discussions but little public outcry. Why?
Deborah Mcilveen from the organisation Women's Aid said, "These figures may seem shocking, but unfortunately they come as no surprise. Most victims still don't report crimes - and the fact that there are so few convictions does little to encourage other victims."
As I sat debating issues with a friend, I raised the issue of the lack of reaction to the latest horrendous England and Wales sexual crime figures - unlike the outrage we saw in India, or indeed the outrage of commentators here with regards to the tragic case in India whilst they hardly reacted to these figures. He pointed out that the issue is that Western societies see themselves as having moved on from the causes of the problem in India. So they would say that India is a largely male dominated society with disparaging views towards women, whereas the UK is obviously no longer that. They would say that women are liberated and free - something India is aspiring to be. Such a mentality means that Western societies do not recognise that some of the values they hold may be the cause of some of the behaviour that leads to such large number of crimes against women.
These latest figures show that sexual crimes are not just a side issue for society, but a problem pervading all strata of society. They also show that the harassment of women is a problem not only in the third world or parts of the Muslim world, but in the ‘advanced' secular liberal world where the constant promotion of the view of women as sexual objects has resulted in a disastrous situation. A further tragedy is that because they believe that the West has moved on and women are liberated, they are not even able to admit or confront the true extent of the problem.
Taji Mustafa
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain
Hizb ut Tahrir/ Wilayah Pakistan has issued a Publicized Policy Position (PPP) regarding the crippling Electricity crisis. It illustrates how the crisis is a direct outcome of privatization, leading to profiteering, underproduction, rises in electricity prices and a huge circular debt.
Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Pakistan has issued the following Publicized Policy Position (PPP) over the severe electricity crisis in the country which has crippled industry and agriculture as well as making the daily lives of the people a misery.
A. PREAMBLE: Electricity is unaffordable and unavailable because of capitalism's privatization concept, as safeguarded by democracy.
Through democracy's implementation of capitalism, the government is responsible for Pakistan's electricity crisis.
