Asghar Bukhari
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Asghar Bukhari | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British Pakistani |
| Occupation | Founding Member of MPACUK |
Asghar Bukhari is a founding member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK).[citation needed] Asghar believes that it is his duty as a Muslim to engage in the community and be politically active,[1] and has run into controversy over accusations of antisemitism.
Controversy
David Irving
In 2006, Bukhari had sent the English writer and Holocaust-denier David Irving a £60 cheque and a letter headed with a quote attributed to John Locke, "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to stand idle".[2] Bukhari said that he felt that Irving was "being smeared for nothing more than being anti-Zionist" and that the "pro-Israeli lobby often accuse[s] people of anti-Semitism". He said he was not antisemitic, and thought that Irving was just an anti-Zionist, not a Holocaust denier, when he donated money to him.[2]
Bukhari then published an audiocast in which he stated: "David Irving claimed he was not anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitic".[3]
During the Gaza War, Bukhari wrote in a Facebook thread: "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." The British Centre for Social Cohesion passed his comments onto the police. The Centre then reported Bukhari for contravening the new law banning 'glorification of terrorism'."[4][5]
Charlie Hebdo
On 8 January 2015 in a live Sky News broadcast the day after 12 people were murdered in the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, Bukhari repeatedly said the murdered cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo were racists.[6][7][8]
Allegations of antisemitism
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,[9] provocative racist material, and further material on its website encouraging activists to break the law.[10]
After Lorna Fitzsimons's defeat, in 2006, the 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 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.[9]
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)!".[11]
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.[12][13] 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.[14] 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."[15]
"MPAC is a volunteer organization. We are highly anti-Zionist and are not afraid to say it. It is a good thing."[16]
Comments on Woolwich Attacks
Only hours after two Nigerian Islamists ambushed and hacked a serving British soldier (Murder of Lee Rigby) to death in the streets of Woolwich in 2013 as he was walking back to the Royal Artillery Barracks, Bukhari was justifying the attack on a BBC news channel.[17] Aisha Patel of the New York Daily Sun criticized the BBC for inviting Bukhari to give his opinion and said "Asghar Bukhari is not representative of Muslims. He is a representative of political Islam which has no place in British politics in the hothead, extremist form personified by Bukhari."[18]
External links
- Bukhari interview on YouTube
- Bukhari Controversy at Queen Mary University
- The Great Debate: The truth about Zionism
References
- ^ Radio 4 Current Affairs Analysis Koran and Country: How Islam Got Political
- ^ a b Doward, Jamie (18 November 2006). ["Muslim leader sent funds to Irving: Islamic activist admits he donated cash to jailed historian who denied the Holocaust". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Asghar Bukhari and The David Irving Smear Campaign". Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ^ http://www.jpost.com/International/Think-tank-Muslim-group-spokesman-praised-terror
- ^ On Air Debate, Sky News Broadcast, 8 January 2015, UK
- ^ http://news.sky.com/video/1404542/sky-news-debate-freedom-of-speech
- ^ https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/video-moderate-asghar-bukhari-sanction-paris-massacre-on-sky-news-debate/
- ^ a b [1]. Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Antisemitism], All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism, 7 September 2006: p. 29.
- ^ Motion 118: Welfare, Minutes of NUS Annual Conference, 29–31 March 2004
- ^ http://standforpeace.org.uk/mpac-take-your-holocaust-then-shove-it-up-your/
- ^ http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/movers-and-shakers-catherine-hossain
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/19/secondworldwar.religion
- ^ http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/3028/
- ^ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/6007567/Any_Muslim_killed_fighting_Israel_goes_to_paradise_says_MPAC_spokesman/
- ^ http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=181
- ^ http://www.newyorkdailysun.com/bbcs-grave-error-asghar-bukhari/
- ^ http://www.newyorkdailysun.com/bbcs-grave-error-asghar-bukhari/