In May 2021, MEMRI translated and released a video clip of a rally in Sydney, Australia by the global Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir's Australia branch. The rally featured a speaker calling "Oh Allah, give us the necks of the Jews... of those evildoers!"
The clip received media coverage in Australia and elsewhere. In November, it was reported that Hizb ut-Tahrir was under investigation by Australian police, and that Australian government ministers and lawmakers had called for it to be banned.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, full name Hizb ut-Tahrir Al-Islami, or "the Party of Islamic Liberation," is a global Islamist network established in 1953 that operates in more than 40 countries. It aims to create an Islamic caliphate that will at first absorb all Muslim-populated territories and then spread Islam worldwide through jihad. It has been banned in many Muslim countries and in countries worldwide, including Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, China, Turkey, and across the Middle East and South and Central Asia – but not in Australia,[1] the U.K.,[2] or the U.S.[3] It has been called a "conveyor belt" for terrorists, with London as its "nerve center."[4]
Ismail Al-Wahwah, leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia, has served a prison term in Jordan for inciting against the regime. He has been monitored by MEMRI since 2012. The organization's emir is Ata Abu Rashta, formerly of Jordan, whose current location is unknown.[5]
Over the years, MEMRI has translated and released more than a dozen clips of statements by Hizb Ut-Tahrir spokesmen in Australia, in addition to reports. The following are the clips, from the MEMRI TV archives:
MEMRI TV Clip No. 9126 | October 11, 2021
In a Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia rally, held in Sydney in support of Palestinians during the May 2021 conflict in Gaza and Jerusalem, a speaker said: "Oh Allah give us the necks of the Jews [...] of those evildoers!" A recap of the rally was posted on the Hizb Media YouTube channel on May 11, 2021. Ismail Al-Wahwah, the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, said that his audience will soon see the end of the "evil, illegal occupier in Palestine." The MC of the event chanted: "We will liberate Palestine!"; "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!" and "Destroy the Jews!"
MEMRI TV Clip No. 7212 | April 27, 2019
Australian Hizb-ut-Tahrir activist Wassim Doureihi was interviewed by high school English teacher Sufyan Badar at a Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia event titled "Unapologetically Muslim" that took place in Sydney on April 27, 2019. Doureihi said that his daughter, who attends public school, makes supplication to Allah during the national anthem in order to "reaffirm her Muslimness." He said that Muslims are facing an "international order" of anti-Muslim policies and he criticized people who have "bought in to the lie" of Western tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism, saying that they are lying to themselves because they don't actually support every aspect of Islam, such as the punishments dictated by shari'a law. He said that Muslims should not apologize for or condemn ISIS when they are asked to do so simply because it is white people who are asking, and he referred to the "hierarchy between Muslims and non-Muslims, and the white man and persons of color." He said that Western tolerance only accepts Muslims who accept democracy and parliamentary rule, which he said run contrary to Islam. Doureihi added that Muslims don't want to be accepted and that they shouldn't apologize for thinking that the word of Allah is superior. Again addressing people in the West who say they are tolerant, Doureihi said: "Pick a side. You either love me as a Muslim or you hate because I believe in Islam." The video was uploaded to Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia's Facebook.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 7211 | April 27, 2019
Australian activist Nassma Bader spoke at Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia's "Unapologetically Muslim" event that took place in Sydney on April 27, 2019. She reassured the audience that Islam is the only system that can unite all people, give people dignity and justice, and resolve the problems of humanity. She said that an Islamic caliphate will be re-established "on the method of the Prophethood," that victory is coming, and that Islam will reach the four corners of the globe. She added: "We will continue to resist until victory is Islam's." The audience chanted: "Allah Akbar!" The video was uploaded to Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia's Facebook page.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 3695 | December 24, 2012
Following are excerpts from an address by Ismail Al-Wahwah, Hizb-ut Tahrir spokesman in Australia. The address was posted on the Internet on December 24, 2012.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 8270 | August 19, 2020
Ismail Al-Wahwah said in an August 19, 2020 episode of his weekly podcast that was posted to Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia's Facebook page that while Arab rulers are thinking about making peace with Israel, the Islamic nation is thinking about freeing the land of Palestine and waging jihad. Al-Wahwah told his audience that this would be "so easy" and it would not take more than a week or two. He explained that if Muslims from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq move towards Palestine, Israel's weapons would be worthless. In addition, Al-Wahwah said that the Islamic nation will never accept the cancer of the "Jewish entity" in its body, and that it must be removed. He claimed all Israelis carry a second "original" passport so that if the Islamic nation wages Jihad against Israel, they can "run away and go back to where they came from."
MEMRI TV Clip No. 8241 | December 16, 2017
Ismail Al-Wahwah posted a video was streamed live on Al-Jazeera Network's Facebook page on December 16, 2017. In the video, Al-Wahwah says that Palestine can only be recaptured by the Muslims by means of Jihad, fighting, and war. He criticized Muslim rulers who recognize Israel and West Jerusalem as its capital, saying that the "criminal, infidel, hypocritical knife" with which they have divided Palestine would eventually be turned against them and be used to behead them. Al-Wahwah said that U.S. President Donald Trump, to whom he referred as a "son of an infidel woman," will be trampled underfoot, and he threatened that the Jews in Palestine will one day cry blood. He advised them to go back to where they came from in Europe, Russia, and America lest they meet their fate. The 2017 rally was held in a Sydney suburb to protest of President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Al-Wahwah posted the video to his YouTube channel on July 31, 2020.
Al-Wahwah: It Is Highly Likely That The Beirut Port Blast Was An Israeli Attack On Hizbullah
MEMRI TV Clip No. 8229 | August 5, 2020
Ismail Al-Wahwah said in an August 5, 2020 podcast that was posted on Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia's Facebook page that there is a strong possibility that the recent Beirut port blast was an Israeli attack on Hizbullah ammonium nitrate storage facilities. He said that it is possible this was done as a warning to Palestinian "resistance" factions to surrender and comply with the Deal of the Century. Al-Wahwah also said that Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has previously threatened to strike Israeli ammonium storage facilities in Haifa, and Al-Wahwah suggested that Israel used this idea against Hizbullah.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 7788 | January 24, 2020
On Friday, January 24, 2020, Ismail Al-Wahwah delivered a sermon at an unknown location in Australia. He said that he would like to discuss the commemoration of the "so-called" Jewish Holocaust, which he called a global issue that was "imposed by force" on the "hypocritical world," but that he has no intention to discuss whether the Holocaust really happened or whether there were really as many victims as it is claimed there were. He said that the criminals who are occupying Palestine use the Holocaust for "dirty political exploitation" and in order justify and draw attention away from their own crimes. He further claimed that the Jews blow the Holocaust out of proportion and lie about it in order to milk the West and accomplish their goals.
Furthermore, Al-Wahwah claimed that that the Holocaust and the accusation of antisemitism are used to silence anybody who talks about liberating Palestine or who exposes the crimes of Israel, which he referred to as an illegal and evil state. In addition, Al-Wahwah criticized world media and world leaders, including prominent Shiite and Sunni Muslim leaders, for "flocking" to Israel, Poland, and Germany to commemorate the Holocaust and its victims, and he said: "May Allah take [those Muslim leaders] to the Holocaust!" He bemoaned the fact that the Islamic nation is undergoing its own holocausts in Syria, Iraq, and China and that nobody is allowed to talk about the holocaust against Muslims without being accused of antisemitism for "underestimating" the Jewish Holocaust. Al-Wahwah continued to say that it is certain that Islam will ultimately be victorious, that the Islamic nation will be united, that a Caliphate will be established, and that shari'a law will return. He said that Islam will conquer Rome just like the Prophet Muhammad had prophesied, that Palestine will be free, and that Moscow will also be conquered. The sermon was uploaded to HT-Media, a YouTube channel belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Ismail Al-Wahwah: Advocates Of Homosexuality Are Child-Killers
MEMRI TV Clip No. 7572 | October 28, 2019
In a Friday sermon delivered in an Australian mosque, Ismail Al-Wahwah spoke about homosexuality. He said that homosexuality is a form of birth prevention, intended to reduce the population of the world. He continued to say that anyone who advocates homosexuality is "a child-killer without a gun". Al-Wahwah referred to advocates of homosexuality as "killers of children" and "childhood killers". The video was uploaded to YouTube on October 28, 2019.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 5440 | March 5, 2016
Speaking on March 6 at a "caliphate conference" in Ankara, Turkey, Ismail Al-Wahwah, spokesman for the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, called upon attendants to lead "the armies of Jihad that will conquer Europe and America." Wahwah warned the Turkish crowd not to trust America, Europe, and NATO, who are all enemies and whose "hearts are black." The speech was posted on the Internet by Hizb ut-Tahrir, as well as by the Köklü Değişim magazine, which organized the conference.
Al-Wahwah: Syria Will Become The Graveyard Of The Russian Czars And The Infidel West
MEMRI TV Clip No. 5112 | October 5, 2015
In a demonstration in Australia, Ismail Al-Wahwah said: "Syria will become, Allah willing, the graveyard of the czars and their dreams and of the infidel West in its entirety." His address was posted on the Internet on October 5, 2015.
Ismail Al-Wahwah Incites To Wage Jihad Against Jews: "They Are The Most Evil Creatures Of Allah"
MEMRI TV Clip No. 4286 | March 03, 2015
In a Friday sermon, Ismail Al-Wahwah, spokesman for the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, said: "The Jews are the most evil creatures of Allah. Moral corruption is linked to the Jews." He further said: "There is only one solution for that cancerous tumor: It must be uprooted and thrown back to where it came from."
Ismail Al-Wahwah: Our Number One Enemy Is The U.S. And Europe
MEMRI TV Clip No. 4672 | October 14, 2014
In an audio clip posted on the Internet on October 16, 2014, Ismail Al-Wahwah, spokesman for the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, said: "Our true conflict is with Europe and the US. They are the enemy." The speech was broadcast on the Australian Voice of Islam radio. In an October 10 Friday sermon at Sefton Mosque, Sydney, Australia, he said: "Your civilization will pay the price" for defiling our women's honor.
[1] Hizb-australia.org, accessed November 16, 2021.
[2] Hizb.org.uk, accessed November 16, 2021.
[3] Hizb-america.org, accessed November 16, 2021.
[4] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7893, Imprisoned Hizb Ut-Tahrir Australia Leader Ismail Al-Wahwah, Whose Sermons And Statements MEMRI Has Translated Since 2012 And Which Have Been Provided To Authorities, Is Moved To Maximum Security Prison In Jordan; He Calls For Caliphate And For Waging Jihad Against The Jews Who Are 'The Most Evil Creatures Of Allah,' And Says: 'Our True Conflict Is With Europe And The U.S. – They Are The Enemy', February 15, 2019; Counterextremism.com/threat/hizb-ut-tahrir; Ctc.usma.edu/political-islam-in-central-asia-the-role-of-hizb-al-tahrir/, February 2010; MEMRI JTTM report Hizb ut-Tahrir Pakistan Warns Tehran: 'We Denounce The Sending Of Iranian Troops To Support The Tyrant Of Syria And American Agent, Bashar Al-Assad', October 10, 2012.
[5] Hizb-australia.org/2016/02/profile-of-ameer-of-hizb-ut-tahrir, accessed November 16, 2021; Israelhayom.com/2020/11/10/this-group-wants-a-caliphate-and-sees-even-hamas-as-a-nationalist-target, November 27, 2020.
