Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK

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

File:MPACUK Logo.gif

The logo of MPACUK

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 anti-Zionist stance with a number of accusations of anti-semitism. 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.

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 and the anti-terror legislation. It has criticised radical Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir for rejecting Muslim participation in Western politics. It campaigns against what it describes as Islamophobia and condemns Islamic extremists such as Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Alleged Anti-Semitism

MPACUK has attracted criticism for alleged anti-semitism. In September 2006, the British All-Party Parliamentary Report into Anti-Semitism, devoted a section to MPACUK. The report asserts 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 also asserts that "[t]he use of ‘Zionist’ as a replacement for ‘Jewish’ is common on the MPACUK website," and that MPACUK has articulated Jewish conspiracy theories through the language of Zionism.

NUS Campus Ban

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".

Lorna Fitzsimons Controversy

Labour MP Lorna Fitzsimons, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, became the target of an MPACUK campaign when she stood for re-election in the constituency of Rochdale at the 2005 General Election. The September 2006 British All-Party Parliamentary 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. Fitzsimons is not in fact Jewish and MPACUK later apologized for the flyers, asserting that reference to her religion had been inserted by mistake. Fitzsimons was not re-elected. 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."

David Irving Controversy

See Asghar Bukhari 'Controversy' article

In a November 2006 article , The Observer reported that in 2000 Bukhari (who would later found MPACUK) had written to the British writer David Irving, offering him support and sending him a £60 donation towards legal fees in what would become an unsuccessful libel claim. Irving was later jailed in Austria in 2006 for three years for Holocaust denial.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." Bukhari told The Observer: "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)."

Further reading

• Official Website
• MPACUK discussion forum
• "The Root of Violence", an interview with Asghar Bukhari, CBS News, August 11, 2006.
• MPACUK-produced video