How Hizb ut-Tahrir Is Exploiting the Gaza War to Revive Its Global Islamist Agenda

On February 2, 2025, large-scale demonstrations erupted in 22 cities across Indonesia, demanding an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories. The protests, organized under the Aliansi Muslim Bela Palestina, began at 6:00 a.m. under the theme “Free Al-Aqsa and Palestine from Zionist Occupation.” While not officially led by Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia, the mobilization patterns and rhetoric suggested the influence of the Islamist group. In 2017, Iffah Ainur Rochmah, a spokesperson for Muslimah Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia, argued that “the Palestinian authorities are powerless against Israel’s military superiority because Palestine has not yet achieved true sovereignty” and insisted that “a two-state solution is not the path to victory for Palestinians.” By leveraging public emotion and religious awareness, HTI leaders amplify the claim that secular political systems have failed and that only a global Islamic government can ensure justice for Muslims. Yet, HT’s claim to be a defender of Islam contradicts political reality, which is that the group selectively uses the Palestine issue as a propaganda tool while showing little concern for other persecuted Muslim communities, such as the Kurds, Darfuris, Yemenis, and Rohingya. At a December 23 press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia’s National Counterterrorism Agency explicitly identified HTI as among the sources of the 180,954 pieces of extremist, intolerant, and radical content detected throughout 2024.