Palestinian Authority security forces Saturday wounded several Arabs in peaceful rallies by the world-wide Hizb Ut-Tahrir, which supports a caliphate regime.
Injuries were reported in Hevron and Kalkilya after security forces used gunfire to disperse the rallies, and another demonstration was silenced in the PA capital of Ramallah, north of Jerusalem.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamic political group that wants all Muslim countries to unify as a single Islamic state, or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and with an elected caliph as head of state. It vows non-violence and has denied charges it is connected with terror groups.
Arab governments, including the Palestinian Authority, regard it as a threat to their rule. Saturday’s rallies in PA areas in Judea and Samaria marked the 90th anniversary of the fall of the last caliphate.
PA checkpoints stopped approximately 100 activists, some of whom were carrying flags. The Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency reported that PA forces shot in the air at Ramallah "to intimidate the marchers.”
Hizb Ut-Tahrir said dozens of its supporters were arrested in Hevron, Kalkilya, Shechem and Tulkarm.
The group claimed that they had permits for the rallies but the Palestinian Authority stated no permits were granted to the group, which it said refuses to recognize the Palestinian Authority.
The official PA WAFA website called Hizb ut-Tahrir “a hard-line Islamist group."