![]() | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(July 2015) |
Founders | Asghar Bukhari Zulfikar Bukhari Tassadiq Rehman |
---|---|
Key people | Catherine Heseltine [1] (CEO) |
Website | MPACUK.org |
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) is a London-based British Muslim lobby and civil liberties [2] [3] group founded to address what it perceived as the under-representation of Muslims in British politics.[ citation needed ] The organisation is active primarily in electoral campaigns and media appearances. [4]
MPACUK encourages Muslims to participate in tactical voting against MPs who support policies which it considers not to be in Muslims' interest.[ citation needed ] This can extend both to national issues such as civil liberties, Islamophobia and anti-terror legislation; and to foreign policy, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Israel-Palestine conflict and the 2006 Lebanon War.[ citation needed ]
The group describes its activities as guided by four overarching principles: Reviving the fard (obligation) of Jihad, Anti-Zionism, institutional revival, and accountability. [4]
The group was originally set up as a web-based media monitoring group. [5]
In July 2011, MPACUK launched the Stop Islamophobia Week campaign due to the rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes. This was a campaign aimed at raising awareness of Islamophobia and encouraging Muslims to do something constructive in response. Particular focus was given to the Srebrenica massacre [6] which was commemorated by a vigil outside the embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In July 2012, MPACUK continued Stop Islamophobia Week. [7]
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. The All-Party Parliamentary Report noted 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. [8] Fitzsimons, who was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel, is not in fact Jewish. [9] MPACUK later apologised for the inaccurate description. [8]
MPACUK was described by Jack Straw as "most egregious" after it actively campaigned for Muslims in his Blackburn constituency to vote tactically against him in the same election. [10]
MPACUK was involved in campaigning to unseat six MPs in England. MPACUK was active in the Oldham campaign, and according to the BBC, "urged Muslim voters to help unseat Phil Woolas, and targeted several other Labour MPs, who MPAC judged to have pro-Israeli positions and who supported the war in Iraq." Woolas stated, "There was vehement anti-semitism going on in the area, canvassing amongst the Asian population in the area saying: don't vote for the Jew. As it happens, I'm not Jewish but the fact my son's Christian name is a Jewish name was used against me." MPACUK denied responsibility for the rumours. [11]
The same year, MPACUK campaigned to remove Andrew Dismore from office, stating he was someone "who backed the Iraq War and has a long record of Islamophobia", and claimed responsibility for his defeat. [12]
In 2011 a campaign to encourage Muslims in Britain to vote YES in the UK was launched in response to the Alternative Vote referendum. [13]
MPACUK encouraged voting for Labour, the Greens, the SNP or Plaid Cymru in the 2019 European Parliament election. [14]
In 2004, MPACUK was the subject of a no-platform order by the National Union of Students, because of its publication of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist conspiracy theories, [8] provocative racist material, and further material on its website encouraging activists to break the law. [15]
After Lorna Fitzsimons's defeat, in 2006, the Community Security Trust (CST) accused MPACUK of antisemitism. An All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into anti-semitism observed that MPACUK was 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 noted the CST's assertion that "use of 'Zionist' as a replacement for ‘Jewish’ is common on the MPACUK website", citing the case in which MPACUK's website described the Talmud as a "Zionist holy book" (notwithstanding the fact the Talmud had been written centuries before the concept of Zionism), and that MPACUK has articulated antisemitic conspiracy theories through the language of anti-Zionism. [8]
The group was also accused of antisemitism for writing on their Facebook page "Take your holocaust, roll it nice and tight and shove it up your (be creative)!". [16]
One of the group's founding members, Asghar Bukhari, was accused of making donations to the writer and Holocaust denier David Irving and asked other websites to donate to him. [17] [18] MPACUK responded by saying it was part of a smear campaign and was a "classic tactic by the Zionist lobby", and that the donation was made before the organisation existed. [19] Bukhari said on Facebook "Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are 'Mujahadeen' and are blessed by Allah. And any Muslim who fights and dies against Israel and dies is a martyr and will be granted paradise … There is no greater oppressor on this earth than the Zionists, who murder little children for sport." [20]
Bukhari has stated that "MPAC is a volunteer organization. We are highly anti-Zionist and are not afraid to say it. It is a good thing." [21]
Maajid Nawaz, a former radical Islamist turned liberal activist and chairman of the anti-extremist foundation Quilliam, said in an interview with the BBC that there is an unhealthy anti-Semitic strand to MPAC's thinking. [22] People who disagree with MPACUK or criticize them are described as "... pro-Zionist stooges, or neoconservatives, or Uncle Toms." [22]
MPACUK and others sent an open letter with Birmingham Civic Society (2006) in protest to the MP Enoch Powell being honoured in a memorial plaque. [23] A response was received from the Chairman of the society, Dr Freddie Gick, who replied with “I would be grateful if you could reassure members of the community that....as long as I remain Chairman of this Society, no such suggestion [as to honour Enoch Powell] would ever be given any serious consideration.” . [23]
MPACUK launched a campaign against Oxfam for collaborating and trading with Starbucks who were accused of supporting Israel. The campaign came to an end when Oxfam announced they would be ceasing trade with Starbucks. [24]
MPACUK launched a campaign against Satellite Graphics Ltd who printed the British National Party (BNP) magazine, The Voice of Freedom. [25] Satellite Graphics Ltd are owned by Saudi Research and Marketing Company and after an online campaign, the Saudi Research and Marketing Company cut the funding of the BNP’s magazine. [26]
Zionism is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jewish tradition as the Land of Israel, which corresponds in other terms to the region of Palestine, Canaan, or the Holy Land, on the basis of a long Jewish connection and attachment to that land.
Deborah Esther Lipstadt is an American historian, best known as author of the books Denying the Holocaust (1993), History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (2005), The Eichmann Trial (2011), and Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019). She has served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism since May 3, 2022. Since 1993 she has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Philip James Woolas is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham East and Saddleworth from 1997 to 2010.
Soviet anti-Zionism is an Anti Zionist and pro-Arab doctrine promulgated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the Soviet Union initially pursued a pro-Zionist policy after World War II due to its perception that the Jewish state would be socialist and pro-Soviet, its outlook on the Arab–Israeli conflict changed as Israel began to develop a close relationship with the United States and aligned itself with the Western Bloc. Anti-Israel Soviet propaganda intensified after Israel's sweeping victory in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, and it was officially sponsored by the agitation and propaganda media of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as well as by the KGB. Among other charges, it alleged that Zionism was a form of racism. The Soviets framed their anti-Zionist propaganda in the guise of a study of modern Zionism, dubbed Zionology. The Soviet anti-Israel policy included the regulated denial of permission for Jews in the Soviet Union to emigrate, primarily to Israel, but also to any other country.
New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the Working Definition of Antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism.
The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor is Jake Wallis Simons.
Radio Islam was a Swedish Islamic radio channel, now a website. The EU's racism monitoring organization has called it "one of the most radical right-wing antisemitic homepages on the net".
Gilad Atzmon is a British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer.
The Community Security Trust (CST) is a British charity whose purpose is to provide safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community in the UK. It provides advice, training, representation and research.
Asghar Bukhari is a founding member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK). Asghar has stated that he believes that it is his duty as a Muslim to engage in the community, be politically active, and run into controversy over accusations of antisemitism. Citing frustration at the lack of Muslim activism and support in the UK, he left MPACUK in September 2015.
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), known as Poale Zion from 1903 to 2004, is one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated to the UK Labour Party.
Antony Lerman is a British writer who specialises in the study of antisemitism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of religion in society. From 2006 to early 2009, he was Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, a think tank on issues affecting Jewish communities in Europe. From December 1999 to 2006, he was Chief Executive of the Hanadiv Charitable Foundation, renamed the Rothschild Foundation Europe in 2007. He is a founding member of the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights, and a former editor of Patterns of Prejudice, a quarterly academic journal focusing on the sociology of race and ethnicity.
This timeline of anti-Zionism chronicles the history of anti-Zionism, including events in the history of anti-Zionist thought.
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It publishes research, organises rallies and petitions, and conducts litigation.
Allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) have been made since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the party in September 2015. After comments by Naz Shah in 2014 and Ken Livingstone in 2016 resulted in their suspension from membership pending investigation, Corbyn established the Chakrabarti Inquiry, which concluded that the party was not "overrun by anti-Semitism or other forms of racism", although there was an "occasionally toxic atmosphere" and "clear evidence of ignorant attitudes". The Home Affairs Select Committee of Parliament held an inquiry into antisemitism in the UK in the same year and found "no reliable, empirical evidence to support the notion that there is a higher prevalence of antisemitic attitudes within the Labour Party than any other political party", though the leadership's lack of action "risks lending force to allegations that elements of the Labour movement are institutionally antisemitic".
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Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
Anti-antisemitism is opposition to antisemitism or prejudice against Jews, and just like the history of antisemitism, the history of anti-antisemitism is long and multifaceted. According to historian Omer Bartov, political controversies around antisemitism involve "those who see the world through an antisemitic prism, for whom everything that has gone wrong with the world, or with their personal lives, is the fault of the Jews; and those who see the world through an anti-antisemitic prism, for whom every critical observation of Jews as individuals or as a community, or, most crucially, of the state of Israel, is inherently antisemitic". It is disputed whether or not anti-antisemitism is synonymous with philosemitism, but anti-antisemitism often includes the "imaginary and symbolic idealization of ‘the Jew’" which is similar to philosemitism.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Antisemitism], All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism, 7 September 2006: p. 29.