In their reporting of the controversy surrounding Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Khalifah conference, a number of Australian media outlets have reported that the group is banned in the United Kingdom.
First, The Age reported:
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the bombers behind the 2005 London attacks.
Then Sydney Morning Herald reported:
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the London bombings of 2005.
And then the Australian Jewish News reported:
However, the Guardian reported:
Plans to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, the radical Islamic group, have been dropped in the past few days following intense discussions between Number 10 and legal advisers.
Perhaps, the Australia media has an excuse for getting it so wrong. But what is British journalist Melanie Phillips’ excuse? The author of the book Londonistan and supposed expert on such matters writes:
Hizb ut Tahrir, which has been banned in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Germany, was going to host a Sydney conference this month to promote the takeover of Australia as part of an Islamic caliphate.
9 comments ↓
I agree it’s sloppy journalism, but I’m guessing that Blair pre-announced his decision to ban HT and made a smaller anouncement when he was persuaded that banning wiuld do more harm than good.
Was it Blair that made the comment that they were not going to ban them after all? I remember it being another minister.
It’s interesting how a falsehood gathers momentum and none of these lazy journalists bothered to verify it.
HT is not banned in UK.. correct your sources.!!
Try reading the article before commenting next time, Abdullah.
It’s interesting that the ‘experts’ from The Age and AJN do not sound merely ill-informed, but positively delusional.
I have been sending emails and feedback to AJN about this… not a single reply yet.
Maybe the “experts” are not delusional, but trying to delude us… Label HT as terrorists enough times, and public opinion will swing against them. It softens the ground for banning them in the future.
the power of “copy” and “paste”
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