Blair's anti-terror laws will criminalise Muslims for speaking out against occupation in Iraq and Palestine

Following the July 7th bombings in London, the Blair government seems to have been doing everything in its power to collectively punish the entire Muslim community in Britain. Provocative speeches by the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary Charles Clarke against Islam, Shariah and the Caliphate, stop and search and shoot to kill policies by the police, threats to close down mosques, deportations and detention orders together with the constant media propaganda against Islam has left no doubt in the Muslim community that this war on terror is nothing other than a war on Islam and Muslims.

The Muslim community in Britain, like Muslims across the world are fully aware of the policies that Western governments are pursuing in the Muslim lands in the name of promoting freedom and democracy. The invasion and mass murder of Iraqis have unmasked the brutal nature of such policies. Ever since the Ottoman Caliphate was destroyed by the British in 1924, the Muslim world has been ruled by dictators, kings and monarchs who have been serving the political and economic interests of Western governments. The Muslim world now desires an end to the regimes of these brutal dictators such as Karimov in Uzbekistan, Musharaf in Pakistan, Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, Mubarak in Egypt and many others who are all 'allies' to Bush and Blair in their war on terror. These dictators systematically torture and murder those who are pursuing the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate through peaceful political means, yet they continue to be courted by Western governments.

The Muslims in Britain have been vocal in exposing this colonial relationship between Western governments and these rulers to let the people in the West know the real meaning of the war on terror, which is to prevent the Muslim masses removing these corrupt rulers and establishing a sincere Islamic leadership. This was blatantly spelt out by Charles Clarke in his Heritage Foundation speech on the 5th of October 2005 when he described the Muslims' aspiration to live by the Shariah and the Caliphate in the Muslim world as 'non negotiable.' The Muslim community has also been vociferous in criticising the occupation of Muslim lands such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir and Chechnya. The vast majority of the Muslim community, whilst being critical of the British government's foreign policy, has continued to live peacefully with the wider non-Muslim community and on occasion's organised joint activities against the policies of the government.

For the Blair government launching an illegal war killing hundreds and thousands of innocent people in Iraq was not enough. Mr Blair and his government is turning Britain into a totalitarian state, similar to the dictatorships in the Muslim world, in order to continue pursuing the US led imperialistic agenda of invasion and occupation of Muslim lands - already Iran and Syria are clearly on the target. In the name of the latest anti-terrorism bill, this government is introducing a raft of new laws to further oppress and curtail the Muslim world's right to see the end of occupation and the establishment of the Islamic Caliphate. Not only does this bill have the provision to detain innocent people for 90 days without charge but also to criminalise those who believe and express the right of people within occupied lands to resist occupation. Terming this as 'glorification' of terrorism it will potentially mean that anyone living in the UK who expresses the right of the Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation or Iraqis the right to resist US and British occupation will be charged with committing an offence and face imprisonment for up to 7 years! Even an imam who makes dua for our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Iraq could face imprisonment based on 'glorifying terror'. Not only do they kill to occupy our lands and usurp our resources but also want us to be silent about it! Clearly it has been proven without any shadow of doubt that freedom, democracy, human rights and tolerance, oft repeated by Bush and Blair, far from being universal, only matter within the context of achieving Western colonial interests.

This government wants to ban the well-known non-violent Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir for no other purpose other than its perseverance on the path to establish the Islamic political system the Caliphate (Khilafah) in the Muslim world. Hizb ut-Tahrir has been working to constantly remind the Muslim community in Britain of the obligation of supporting those who are struggling against the tyrants, dictators and despots in the Muslim world to establish a state that rules by the Laws of Allah (SWT) - the Islamic Shariah. Hizb ut-Tahrir has worked with you to raise the voice of the Muslims in Britain in calling for the end of the brutal occupation of Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya etc. We have done this seeking no benefit, position or praise. We do this simply because it is an Islamic duty to speak the word of truth against occupation and oppression and it is the mother of all fards to support the work for establishing the rule of Allah in our countries i.e. the Khilafah State.