Political Dispute Points To Turmoil In U.K. Muslim Brotherhood Politics

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UK left-wing media have been discussing what appears to be a falling about between maverick politician George Galloway and the Socialist Workers Party, both important players in the so-called Respect Unity Coalition, a U.K. political party whose members include Galloway, the Socialist Worker’s Party (SWP), and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), formerly the most important Muslim Brother organization in the U.K. The controversy centers on what was described as a “scathing eight page document” sent by Galloway to all members of the Respect National Committee. One far left-left organization views the tension between Galloway and the SWP as a product of Galloway’s desire to focus more on developing a Muslim constituency:

The assessment we first made, that Galloway wanted more focus on Respect as an electoral machine (which necessarily implies more focus on its “fighter for Muslims” pitch at mainly-Muslim electorates), is in tension with the SWP’s desire to have Respect as a vehicle more suitable for SWP recruitment and retention. Given that the SWP cannot “sell” itself as a Muslim organisation, that means developing angles to Respect like the Organising for Fighting Unions and so on.

As previous posts have noted, the MAB is virtually moribund having been supplanted by the recently formed British Muslim Initiative (BMI). The tension between within the Respect Party points to further turmoil with the Brotherhood’s relationship to U.K. politics.

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