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 Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) is a not-for-profit British Muslim organization set up to address a perceived under-representation of Muslims in British politics. The group, which was founded and originally run by two activist brothers Asghar Bukhari and Zulfikar Bukhari, campaigns on issues affecting Britain's Muslim population primarily through electoral campaigns and media appearances.

It has attracted both praise and criticism for its views in favour of Muslim mainstream political participation, mosque reform and women's rights, and for its belief in a link between foreign policy and terrorism. It has also attracted criticism for its strong anti-Zionist stance. While it is not considered an Islamist extremist organisation, the organisation was described by Jack Straw as 'most egregious' after it had actively campaigned for Muslims in his Blackburn constituency to vote tactically against him in the 2005 General Election.

Contents 1 Aims and policies 2 Alleged Antisemitism 2.1 NUS Campus Ban 2.2 Lorna Fitzsimons Controversy 2.3 David Irving Controversy 3 Notes 4 Further reading

[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 participate in tactical voting against MPs who support policies which it considers not to be in Muslims' interest. This can extend both to foreign policy, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq or Israeli action in Palestine and Lebanon, and to national issues such as civil liberties, Islamophobia and anti-terror legislation. It condemns Islamic extremists such as Omar Bakri Mohammed, and has criticised radical Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir which reject Muslim participation in Western politics.

[edit] Alleged Antisemitism

MPACUK has attracted criticism for alleged antisemitism. In September 2006 the Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism^[1] observed that MPACUK had been criticised by the CST for promoting the idea of a worldwide Zionist conspiracy and using material taken from neo-Nazi, white nationalist, and Holocaust denial websites. The report also notes the CST's assertion that "[t]he use of ‘Zionist’ as a replacement for ‘Jewish’ is common on the MPACUK website" and that MPACUK has articulated antisemitic conspiracy theories through the language of anti-Zionism.

[edit] NUS Campus Ban

MPACUK, with Al-Muhajiroun and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, was the subject of a no-platform order by the National Union of Students in 2004, because of its alleged publication of antisemitic conspiracy theories and inciteful racist material, and further material on its website encouraging activists to break the law.^[2] To date neither MPACUK nor its activists have been arrested, charged, prosecuted or convicted of offences of inciting racial or religious hatred.

[edit] Lorna Fitzsimons Controversy

Labour MP Lorna Fitzsimons became the target of an MPACUK campaign when she stood for re-election at the 2005 General Election in the constituency of Rochdale, which has a significant Muslim population.^[3] The All-Party Parliamentary Report notes with concern MPACUK's campaign against Lorna Fitzsimons and that leaflets had been printed by MPACUK, which claimed that Fitzsimons had done nothing to help the Palestinians because she was a Jewish member of the Labour Friends of Israel.^{[citation needed]} Fitzsimons, who was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel, is not in fact Jewish^[4], but is extremely pro-Israel^[5][4] and MPACUK later apologized for the leaflets,^{[citation needed]} asserting that reference to her religion had been inserted by mistake. Fitzsimons was not re-elected and was appointed CEO of Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre on 29 September 2006.

[edit] David Irving Controversy

See Asghar Bukhari Controversy article

In a November 2006 article,^[6] The Observer reported that in 2000 Bukhari (who would later found MPACUK) had written to David Irving, offering him support and sending him a £60 donation. At the time Irving was engaged in a libel action in England against Deborah Lipstadt who had accused him of being a holocaust denier, which she successfully defended. In 2006, Irving was convicted and jailed in Austria for holocaust denial, a criminal offence in that country. In an interview broadcast on the MPACUK website in response to the article, Bukhari said of his earlier correspondence: "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."^[7] Bukhari told The Observer: "I condemn antisemitism 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)."

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Official Website
• "The Root of Violence", an interview with Asghar Bukhari, CBS News, August 11, 2006.
• MPACUK-produced video
• The MPAC Fiasco!
• CST (Community Services Trust) Official Website