Hizb al-Tahrir, a group committed to the restoration of an Islamic Caliphate, recently held demonstrations in Gaza and Ramallah this week.

In the past the Palestinian Authority (PA) has broken up demonstrations by the group. Not so much this time. The change has analysts worried that hard-line Islamist groups may be gaining a foothold in the West Bank:

The Palestinian Authority, which had in the past cracked down on Hizb-ut-Tahrir [Party of Liberation], the radical organization that led the march, instructed its security forces not to intervene, even as PA spokesmen condemned US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to revive peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a radical, Islamist political organization that calls on all Muslims to unify under an Islamic state ruled by Islamic law, Sharia, and a Caliph. The march in Ramallah was organized by members of its Palestinian branch, who, along with their fundamentalist followers, lamented the long-ago decision by the Grand National Assembly in Angora, Turkey, to depose Caliph Abdul Medjid Effendi and abolish the Caliphate. …

Remarked another Palestinian university student who witnessed the event: “Today I felt as if I’m in Syria or Gaza. It’s strange that the Palestinian Authority, which arrests people who post critical comments on Facebook, allows Muslim extremists to march in Ramallah, calling for the establishment of a Caliphate.”

The Western-backed gPA overnment is considered relatively moderate on the Palestinian political spectrum. It has been consistently subject to criticism in the United States and Europe for sponsoring anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement, and it has engaged in international legal warfare against Israel in defiance of the U.S., but it still officially eschews violence as a useful tactic given current circumstances.

It is unclear why the PA allowed the Hizb al-Tahrir demonstration.

[Photo: OsamaK / Wiki Commons]