Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK

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This article is about the British organization. For the U.S. organization, see Muslim Public Affairs Council
The logo of MPACUK
The logo of MPACUK

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) is a not-for-profit British Muslim organization. Created after the 2002 Battle of Jenin, the organisation was set up to address what it sees as the under-representation of Muslims in British politics. The group, which maintains a website and bulletin board, was originally run by four activists, Asghar Bukhari, Zulfikar Bukhari, Tassadiq Rehman, and Muddassar Ahmed, who operated from home, according to Michael Whine of the Community Security Trust. [1]

MPACUK has been criticized for publishing antisemitic material. A section in the September 2006 British All-Party Parliamentary Report into Antisemitism was devoted to allegations that the group uses material from white supremacist and neo-Nazi publications, that it uses the word "Zionist" as a replacement for "Jew," and that it engages in the spread of conspiracy theories about Jews. [2]

Asghar Bukhari was named in the House of Commons in 2001 in connection with an alleged campaign against a British Member of Parliament (MP) who was an officer of the Parliamentary Labour Friends of Israel. [3] In 2000 Bukhari offered support and sent money to David Irving, a British writer later jailed in 2006 for Holocaust denial in Austria. [4] In an interview broadcast on the MPACUK website, Bukhari said: "David Irving claimed he was not antisemitic and was in fact being attacked by the powerful pro-Israeli lobby; in short, being smeared ... I believed him, it's as simple as that ... I would not have supported anyone who is antisemitic." [5]

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[edit] Aims and policies

MPACUK encourages Muslim participation in the mainstream British political process and has no political affiliation; in particular it encourages Muslims to vote against MPs who supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, or who have expressed pro-Israel views. It has attacked radical Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, which reject Muslim participation in Western politics.

MPACUK says that many leading figures within the British Muslim community lack accountability.[citation needed] On its website, MPACUK writes that: "MPAC UK are aiming to bring the community together, disunity among Muslims has been our biggest downfall in recent years. This will not, however, stop us from holding Muslims and their leaders to account. The lack of accountability is killing the Ummah, no responsibility and no accountability means no action." [1]

It campaigns against what it describes as Islamophobia. In August 2006, MPACUK users campaigned against Inigo Wilson, who published a "Lefty Lexicon" article[2] on the ConservativeHome website. The piece was a humour piece attacking what Wilson perceived as left-wing jargon. Its definition for "Islamophobic" as "anyone who objects to having their transport blown up on the way to work" and Palestinians as "archetype 'victims' no matter how many teenagers they murder in bars and fast food outlets. Never responsible for anything they do – or done in their name - because of 'root causes' or ‘legitimate grievances’." caused offence to MPACUK forum users, who identified that Wilson was employed by Orange[3], and campaigned to have him sacked. Wilson was initially suspended by the firm,[6] but subsequently reinstated.

It has also compaigned for the right of women to pray in mosques and have places on mosque committees. [7]

[edit] Fighting Extremism

MPACUK sees the extremists on the fringe of the Muslim community as a real threat to ordinary Muslims and have spoken out against extremists such as Omar Bakri Mohammed. When he left the UK in August 2005 MPACUK carried the the headline on their website, "We say don't come back!" [8]

MPACUK condemned a demonstration held in London on 3 February 2006 by the now-banned takfiri Islamist group Al Ghurabaa, which called for the murder of the publishers of the cartoons that sparked the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and for further terrorist attacks against European targets. [4]Following the protests by the extremists MPACUK appeared on the BBC to call for the arrest of those responsible. [9]

[edit] Allegations of anti-Semitism

David Irving, jailed for three years for Holocaust denial, received e-mails in 2000 from Asghar Bukhari, a founder of MPACUK, offering support. MPACUK has been criticized for publishing links to Irving's work.
David Irving, jailed for three years for Holocaust denial, received e-mails in 2000 from Asghar Bukhari, a founder of MPACUK, offering support. [4] MPACUK has been criticized for publishing links to Irving's work. [1]

Michael Whine, writing for the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, has criticized MPACUK for publishing links to the works of Holocaust denier David Irving, as well as Simon Sheppard of the far-right British National Party; for denigrating Jews; and for calling the Talmud "the most powerful and racist book in the world." [1] Whine writes that MPACUK uses "distortions of the terms 'Jew' and 'Zionist' and consistently substitutes the latter for the former in an effort to prevent itself from being labelled antisemitic while at the same time it uses the language of classic antisemitism." [1] MPACUK has also republished articles from the neo-Nazi newspaper, the American Free Press. [10]

MPACUK was the subject of a no-platform order by the National Union of Students in 2004, because of its alleged "anti-Semitic, and homophobic rhetoric". [11] Labour MP Lorna Fitzsimons, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, became the target of an MPACUK campaign when she stood for election. [5]

Asghar Bukhari, one of the founders and leaders of MPACUK, was named in the House of Commons in July 2001 in connection with a campaign against MP Mike Gapes, allegedly because the latter was an officer of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel group. In November 2006, The Observer reported that Bukhari had written to the British writer David Irving in 2000, offering him support and sending him £60. Irving was jailed in Austria in 2006 for three years for Holocaust denial. Bukhari wrote to Irving: "You may feel like you are on your own but rest assured many people are with you in your fight for the Truth." He wrote that he had asked his colleagues to contribute money to Irving and had asked Muslim websites to create links to Irving's. He offered to send Irving a copy of They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby by Paul Findley, a former U.S. Republican Congressman who is critical of America's relationship with Israel. Bukhari wrote that Findley "has suffered like you in trying to expose certain falsehoods perpetrated by the Jews." [4]

Bukhari told The Observer: "I wrote letters to anyone who was tough against the Israelis — David Irving, Paul Findley, the PLO. I don't feel I have done anything wrong, to be honest. At the time I was of the belief he [Irving] was anti-Zionist, being smeared for nothing more than being anti-Zionist. The pro-Israeli lobby often accused people of anti-Semitism and smear tactics against groups and individuals is well known. I condemn anti-Semitism as strongly as I condemn Zionism (in my opinion they are both racist ideologies). I also believe that anyone who denies the Holocaust is wrong (I don't think they should be put behind bars for it though)." [4]

[edit] All-Party Parliamentary Report into Antisemitism

The report states that MPACUK uses material from neo-Nazi publications.
The report states that MPACUK uses material from neo-Nazi publications. [2]

In September 2006, MPACUK was mentioned specifically in the British All-Party Parliamentary Report into Anti-Semitism, with a section of the report devoted to them. [2] The report states that MPACUK promotes the idea of a world wide Zionist conspiracy and uses material taken from neo-Nazi, white nationalist, and Holocaust denial websites. The report notes that "[t]he use of ‘Zionist’ as a replacement for ‘Jewish’ is common on the MPACUK website," giving as one example that MPAC refers to the Talmud as a "Zionist holy book." It also says that MPACUK has articulated Jewish conspiracy theories through the language of Zionism, describing it as "an octopus that now penetrates every western nation ..." [2]

The report mentions MPACUK's campaign against Lorna Fitzsimons and the fact that MPACUK had printed leaflets saying she had done nothing to help the Palestinians because she was a Jewish member of the Labour Friends of Israel. Fitzsimmons is not in fact Jewish and MPAC later apologized for the false descrption. The report concludes: "it is concerning to see the ‘accusation’ of being Jewish being used in such a way in the context of an election campaign." [2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Whine, M. "Islamist recruitment and antisemitism on British campuses", Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.
  2. ^ a b c d e Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into AntisemitismPDF (430 KiB) , p. 29, paragraph 140 ff.
  3. ^ "Electoral law", statement in the House of Commons by Michael Gapes, MP, July 2001.
  4. ^ a b c d Doward, Jamie. "Muslim leader sent funds to Irving", The Observer, November 19, 2006
  5. ^ "Asghar Bukhari and The David Irving Smear Campaign", MPACUK audiocast, November 20, 2006.
  6. ^ Richard Wray,"'Lefty lexicon' lands Orange executive in big trouble", The Guardian, August 17, 2006
  7. ^ "Women Only Jihad," Channel 4, 2006.
  8. ^ "Loud Mouth Bakri Leaves - We Say Don't Come Back", MPACUK website, August 09, 2005.
  9. ^ "Muslim Leader condemns Protesters", BBC News, February 3, 2006.
  10. ^ "MPAC lifts more material from Neo Nazi website", Harry's Place, February 8, 2006.
  11. ^ "Final Motions Document," National Union of Students Annual Conference, Blackpool, 29 March – 1 April 2004, cited by Whine, Michael. "Islamist recruitment and antisemitism on British campuses", Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

[edit] Further reading

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