The sources said Hizb has established a presence in virtually every
major city in the West Bank. They said the movement has railed against the
pro-Western policy of the PA while avoiding electoral politics.
On July 11, PA security forces arrested 11 Hizb members at a mosque in
the southern West Bank town of Idna, Middle East Newsline reported. The Al Umari mosque hosted a Hizb
lecture that advocated the establishment of a caliphate, or unified
religious and political entity, throughout the Muslim world.
Officers from the PA's Preventive Security Apparatus were ordered to
break up the meeting, the sources said. Hizb followers were said to have
resisted, and a fight erupted that ended in arrests.
The sources said PA security forces have been ordered to block similar
meetings in other parts of the West Bank. They said Hizb was believed to
have attracted thousands of supporters, many of them former members of the
ruling Fatah movement.
"Hizb will not stop its Sharia duties," Hizb said in a statement.
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