Even though in Tunisia the Islamist party Hizb-ut-Tahrir [HuT] -- Party of Liberation -- is officially banned, it was able to organize a large international conference, entitled "The Caliphate, Bright Example for the Rights and Political Role of Women."
During the women-only conference -- men apparently did not have the right to participate in this symposium -- members of HuT stated that Democracy has failed and that it is now time to build an Islamic Caliphate. "We want the Caliphate system, which has been historically tested and which is the system that can give a better future to Muslim women," said Nasrin Nawaaz, the British spokeswoman of the Islamist party, during the event.
As reported by the Tunisian media outlet Tunisia Live, around 500 women supporters of the Islamist party came to Tunisia from all over the world -- Arab, European and Asian countries -- to discuss the benefits of an Islamic state for Muslim countries.
Even though the party is banned, Hizb-ut-Tahrir had the freedom to organize an international conference in a luxurious Tunisian hotel, and the freedom to spread its own political agenda. It is then clear that, though banned, the party is completely tolerated by the new Tunisian government, led by the Islamist party Ennahda.
The following are excerpts from an op-ed that appeared in the Tunisia media outlet, Business Week:
"The organizers of the event wore bright pink scarves, the participants had flowered veils and just few women wore black niqabs. And, above all, smiles and endless speeches to convince the audience about the beneficial effects of the Caliphate, the only political system with a future for Muslims, according to the women of Islamist party Hizb Ettaharir. […]
"In the large conference hall, in a luxurious palace in Gammarth, in the northern outskirts of Tunis, rented at an undisclosed price by the Tunisian branch of Hizb Ettaharir, the women activists watched attentively a movie, claiming that 'the world is in great need of Islam'.
"The movie than [sic] showed some footage of recent world's events: the Arab Spring, European demonstrators repressed by the police, the fall of Arab dictators […] Then the movies' [sic]commentator asks the following question: 'What sort of liberties are offered by the western secular system? The liberty of disintegrating the family?The liberty of being homosexual?' The movie ended with images of galloping knights, waving the banner of Islam and a plea: 'Oh Caliphate! Help!'
"[…] Melek and Asma, two good-looking British participants, in their thirties, the first one being a professor and the latter one a housewife, insisted that with their views they are not doing any 'western-bashing' (i.e. denigration of the West). 'We live in Europe, and we simply realized that the capitalist system has failed. The Caliphate is a unique economic system that does not forbid ownership or richness, but which provides for an equitable redistribution and circulation of goods', Melek explained. 'Jews and Christians can live in a Caliphate under the status of 'dhimmi' [a tolerated, second-class citizen who has to pay a "protection" tax, called a jizya], called […]", added Asma, anxious to convince her interlocutors.
"The two young women explain that in a Caliphate, women will have the right to work, to have a political role, even though their main mission remains to raise children and look after the family. They added that the Caliphate does not forbid elections and that the role of the Caliph will be assumed by the best Islamic scholar among all. A woman, however, cannot become a Caliph. 'The Muslim world is nowadays at a crossroad, looking for answers. The Caliphate is the answer' said Iffah Rohma, Indonesian representative of Hizb Ettahrir".
