Hizb ut-Tahrir America (HTA) has launched a web site featuring a full archive of its newsletter The Shield. Since June 2006, HTA members have distributed The Shield outside of Chicago area mosques and at Islamic conferences. Until June 2009, HTA did not operate openly. That month, the group announced its July 2009 Khilafah conference outside of Chicago, and with that officially revealed its existence in the United States.
Shield articles are a roster of HTA’s judgments about the U.S. and its foreign policies. The lead article in the June 2006 inaugural issue posits that American Muslims should not feel safe in their own country, and that the U.S. government is their enemy. In later issues, The Shield returns to the same theme; asking Muslims to question their identity as Americans. This is the same propaganda tactic used by HT in the U.K. in 2005/2006. Continually posing the question “Are you British or are you Muslim” was meant erode British Muslims’ sense of belonging.
Other frequent topics and themes covered in current and past issues of The Shield include; Jews and Christians are the enemy of Muslims; it is immoral for Muslims to serve in the military; and it is the long-term plot of Americans to continue killing and oppressing Muslims around the world.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a transnational political Islamist movement, with a presence in more than 45 countries. It advocates for the establishment of an Islamic state to be ruled according to Sharia law. Although its stated methods are non-violent, HT does not condemn terrorist acts perpetrated by other jihadi groups absolutely.
HTA is headquartered in the Chicago area, with members in most major cities and university towns all across the country. HTA intends to expose American Muslims to its ideology via overt and covert means. While its presence is now publicly known, HTA will likely continue to use covers to reach its target support audience (school-aged American Muslims).