‘They divide’: Group banned in the UK eyes Australian division over war

Australian members of a radical Islamist organisation recently banned as a terrorist group in Britain have infiltrated the mainstream pro-Palestinian movement, using front groups to spread their radical ideology and holding events at the Sydney University encampment.

An investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes has uncovered a sophisticated operation by supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia to reinvigorate the group’s decades-long campaign to destroy Israel and create a caliphate ruled by sharia, or Islamic law.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has used social media front groups to spread its message and garner support.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis

Among the group’s tactics is the use of fronts, including the new Stand For Palestine campaign outfit that has amassed thousands of Australian followers on social media and helped organise rallies and protest events since the October 7 attack.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is not involved in the organisation of the regular weekend protests that have drawn thousands to the streets of Sydney and Melbourne in support of Palestine, but has been involved in the organisation of smaller rallies, sometimes in partnership with other organisations.

Proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Britain this year for its support of Hamas, antisemitic stance and calls for jihad (just war), the group also appears to have stepped up its presence in mosques and youth groups without attracting public scrutiny in this country.

Despite its limited membership and fringe nature in Australia, the resurgence of Hizb ut-Tahrir has caused concern among extremism experts in Australia and overseas, who fear the group is capitalising on the discontent caused by global events such as the war in Gaza to seed radical ideology and recruit followers.

Deakin University extremism expert Josh Roose says Hizb ut-Tahrir has used the Gaza conflict to boost its activism.Credit: 60 Minutes

Deakin University extremism expert Dr Josh Roose said the conflict had created an opportunity for groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir to exploit heightened public sentiment over Israel’s military offensives in Gaza that have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to data from Palestinian health officials. The United Nations estimates the conflict has also displaced almost 2 million people, about 80 per cent of Gaza’s population.

“We are in a very dangerous point in our history where not only is there intense polarisation, but we are seeing a level of potential violent rhetoric and extremism that we’ve not experienced in this country for many generations, if at all,” Roose said.

Metadata reveals the Stand For Palestine Telegram group is administered by a Tunisian Hizb ut-Tahrir activist, while its WhatsApp group is managed by three Australian Hizb ut-Tahrir figures.

Key backers of the group have also regularly spoken at Stand For Palestine-branded events and delivered sermons and lectures at the Sydney University student encampment.

In a statement in response to questions by this masthead, camp organisers said the encampment was a coalition of groups and organisations: “We’re a broad and diverse community here to simply demand our university cut ties with genocide and Israel.”

Sydney University ordered the sprawling camp to pack up and leave campus on Friday, almost eight weeks after it sprung up.

It is not the first time the group has used a popular cause to gain support. Before rallying under the Stand For Palestine banner, the group was behind the Stand For Uyghurs campaign protesting against human rights abuses of the Muslim minority in China.

Following October 7, social media accounts actively rallying behind the Stand For Uyghurs cause were quickly rebranded as Stand For Palestine accounts, and within days began promoting events and sharing content about Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza.

British counter-extremism expert Hadiya Masieh, who was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir for a decade before leaving the group in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005, said Hizb ut-Tahrir preyed on vulnerable people and used popular causes as a hook.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir, like other extreme groups, will use any mechanism they can to push their agenda,” she said.

“They divide, they prey on people, and they brand and market themselves very well. So they are very interested in using as many avenues as possible.”

A day after Hamas had launched its co-ordinated attack in southern Israel, killing about 1200 people and taking another 250 hostage, radical Islamist preacher Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun shared his feelings of elation with the crowd at a Hizb ut-Tahrir-sponsored gathering in Lakemba, in Sydney’s south-west.

“I’m smiling and I’m happy,” Dadoun told attendees. “I’m elated. It’s a day of courage. It’s a day of pride. It’s a day of victory. This is the day we’ve been waiting for.”

He later denied that the statements meant he was condoning the killing of civilians.

Since then, the group has issued calls for armies from Muslim-majority countries to “ignore artificial borders” and “respond to their divine obligation” to join Hamas in its fight against Israel, and referred to the conflict in Gaza as a first step in the establishment of a global caliphate.

“If a handful of Muslims could rattle the occupation and the entire international community in a single morning, what then could be achieved by the collective efforts of the surrounding armies of Muslim countries?” a Hizb ut-Tahrir press release dated October 8 read.

“The liberation of Palestine by the Muslims will be the start of the liberation of humanity from the clutches of the West, and that day is sooner than we think inshallah [God willing].”

When this masthead approached Dadoun for comment, he refused to answer questions.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir have been around for a long period of time,” Roose said. “Many people view them as redundant, as irrelevant, to the conversation. However, in recent years in particular, they have become more active, and the extent of their rhetoric, and the potential violence inherent in their rhetoric, is also concerning.”

It is this rhetoric that prompted British Home Secretary James Cleverly to controversially proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist group in January, arguing it would hamstring the group’s ability to operate and allow authorities to come after its supporters.

The move has been criticised by civil libertarians, Muslim groups and some security experts who claim it curtails free speech and risks pushing the group underground where it would be harder to monitor.

A Hizb ut-Tahrir protest in London in November.Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

The decision came after the British chapter praised the October 7 attacks and Hamas as “heroes”, and fantasised about what a unified Muslim world could achieve “if this can be done by a resistance group”.

Hizb ut-Tahrir further inflamed the situation by holding a pro-Palestine rally in London where members made inflammatory speeches calling for jihad and Muslim armies to intervene in Gaza.

Until that moment, Hizb ut-Tahrir had successfully walked the line between engaging in incendiary commentary and breaking terrorism laws, dodging separate proscription attempts under Britain and Australia’s differing legal regimes.

This masthead is not suggesting Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters are terrorists or that all its members condone terrorism.

Roose said that while banning Hizb ut-Tahrir could prove a difficult process, hate speech laws should be strengthened to capture the dangerous rhetoric being promoted by its members.

“They might not be necessarily crossing that line into advocating terrorism, but there is inherent violence in what they’re saying and doing,” Roose said.

For more, watch 60 Minutes on Sunday night at 8.05pm.