Hizb ut-Tahrir campaign draws condemnation from Danish schools

Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched a campaign aimed at Muslim upper-secondary students, drawing criticism from Danish school leaders and concern from Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bødskov, DR reports.

Under the headline “Stand firm in your Islamic identity and wear it with pride”, the Islamic political organisation tells new students that many will encounter a youth environment where behaviour, norms and lifestyles that do not accord with Islam are presented as natural or desirable.

Henrik Vestergaard Stokholm, principal of Mulernes Legatskole, an upper-secondary school in Odense with many Muslim students, said the campaign had no place in Danish schools.

“I actually fear that this particular statement, and everything the media are covering today, gives a platform to people who should not have one,” he said. “But at the same time, we as principals and politicians have to strongly distance ourselves from it.”

He said Danish schools were based on democratic and egalitarian values and a view of humanity that did not accord with the contents of the letter.

Allan Kortnum, chair of Danske Erhvervsskoler og Gymnasier, an organisation representing Danish vocational schools and upper-secondary schools, also criticised the campaign.

“It fundamentally conflicts with everything Danish school culture and upper-secondary education stand for: freedom, open-mindedness, personal empowerment and democratic education,” he said.

Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, chair of the Danish Association of Upper-Secondary Students, said he did not see a conflict between being a religious student and taking part in upper-secondary school culture.

He acknowledged that some young people could feel pressured by a culture involving drinking, parties and relationships, but said this was not a uniquely Muslim problem. In his experience, most schools provided room for students to object and be themselves.

Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects criticism

Hizb ut-Tahrir media representative Elias Lambaret declined to give a recorded interview but answered written questions from DR.

He accused upper-secondary schools of joining an “Islam-hostile political agenda”. He said that if schools genuinely wanted to promote freedom of thought and independent thinking, they would not suspect or ban ordinary Islamic behaviour and opinions at educational institutions by referring to terms such as “social control” and “radicalisation”.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Islamic political party that seeks to unite Muslim nations in an Islamic state, or caliphate. It opposes democracy and advocates a society based on Islamic law, or sharia. The organisation is estimated to operate in more than 40 countries and began its activities in Denmark in the 1990s.