Reviving the Islamic Caliphate: Usman Bukhach

Usman Bukhach is the Director of Hizb ut-Tahrir's (Party of Liberation) Central Media Office in Beirut, Lebanon and is a practicing medical engineer. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) was established as a political party in Jerusalem by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge, in 1953. Since that time, HT has spread to over 40 countries with an estimated membership of over 1 million. It is has become popular among Muslim communities in the West, particularly in Britain. HT strives to promote the intellectual and popular basis for the re-institution of an Islamic Caliphate, which would eventually spread to encompass the entire world. Despite several accusations to the contrary, HT maintains that it is a non-violent organization. My conversation with Mr. Bukhach covers HT's moral and philosophical positions on capitalism, secularism, and individual/group rights. Our conversation also focuses on HT's narrative of the overt and covert forms of contemporary colonialism around the globe.

Political Commentary: Hani Masri

Hani Masri is a Ramallah-based independent analyst of Palestinian and Israeli politics as well as the General Director of the Palestine Media, Research and Studies Centre - Badael. He writes for several Palestinian and Arab newspapers as an independent columnist. My conversation with Mr. Masri focuses on the armed Palestinian gangs which developed after the failure of the Palestinian/Israeli peace negotiations of the early 1990s and the current strategies that Hamas, Fateh, and independent organizations and individuals are employing to achieve Palestinian independence.

For a translation of this interview, please click here

Deputy Speaker of the PLC: Hassan Khreisheh

Doctor Hassan Khreisheh is the Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Committee (PLC) under Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian National Authority. Khreisheh is an independent, and holds views that are at times critical of both Fateh and Hamas. Khreisheh formerly served as the governor of the Tulkarem Region in the Northwest of the West bank during the height of the Second Intifada. He also has served on multiple investigative committees, among them a commission established to investigate the death of Hamas Cleric, Majd Barghouti, in 2008 while he was imprisoned by Fateh. My conversation with him covers these topics as well as Israeli land policy, modern Palestinian resistance to the Occupation, and attempts of reunification between Hamas and Fateh.

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