The letter comes as polling within the Muslim American community shows a major departure from the Democratic Party over the Biden-Harris administration’s unfettered support for Israel’s war on Gaza, which they along with rights groups and legal experts view is a genocide against Palestinians.

The letter calls on Muslims to instead vote for any of the third-party candidates, including the Green Party’s Jill Stein whose support has swelled among the Muslim American community in recent weeks.

“We want to be absolutely clear: don’t stay home and skip voting. This year, make a statement by voting third party for the presidential ticket,” the letter said.

“Equally important, vote all the way down the ballot for candidates and policies that stand for truth and justice, ensuring your voice is heard at every level.”

The letter, written and released in collaboration with the Abandon Harris campaign, was signed by more than three dozen religious leaders from all around the country, including Dawud Walid, Dr Shadee Elmasry, Imam Omar Suleiman, Dr Yasir Qadhi, and Imam Tom Facchine.

The imams who have signed the letter say the calls for Muslims to uncritically support Harris is fear-mongering.

“None of this is an endorsement of Donald Trump’s vile, racist agenda, which includes advancing the apartheid and genocidal interests of a foreign state while falsely claiming to put America first,” the letter said.

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml
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    41 minutes ago

    “None of this is an endorsement of Donald Trump’s vile, racist agenda," afraid it is, kids. deny your vote all you want but do not pretend your intentions are valid out in the real world.

  • BurningRiver@beehaw.org
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    6 hours ago

    “None of this is an endorsement of Donald Trump’s vile, racist agenda, which includes advancing the apartheid and genocidal interests of a foreign state while falsely claiming to put America first,” the letter said.

    The irony is palpable here, because not voting against Trump is specifically endorsing Trump’s agenda. I’d discuss it further, but there’s no point. They can do whatever they want, it’s a free country for now.

  • VoterFrog@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    It’s like the dumbest version of the trolley problem where the tracks are reversed. You could do nothing and people will die. Or you could pull the lever (convince a bunch of people not to vote for Harris) and a lot more people will die but, hey, at least you can say you did something.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
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      12 hours ago

      In terms of a bipoloar two party system, you’re right, the other party will fuck them hard.

      In terms of swaying their main party to listen to their voters or risk losing an election, they did the right thing. You have to make a stand at some point to hold your representatives accountable.

      I used to think the best time to do this was once your party was in power, but through sheer osmosis of being on this instance, I’m now of the mind that once they’re in power they will have no reason to listen to you, so you might as well strike when their victory is uncertain.

  • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    The Uncommitted Campaign, a movement that gained media attention for its call to withhold votes from President Biden during the primary elections over the war on Gaza, released a statement earlier this month saying that while it could not officially endorse Harris, voters should not cast their ballot for any other candidate but her.

    How’s that not an offical endorsement?

    • JamesTBagg@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They don’t like her but can admit the current alternative will be much more terrible. They do not want to endorse a “lesser evil.” Option A will hurt, option B is likely to take a limb.

      • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        No, it do not mean liking something. Endorsement is an act of acceptation and/or support. Saying “voters should not cast their ballot for any other candidate but her” is an explicit endorsement.

        • SmilingSolaris@lemmy.world
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          Except that the people saying this are making a distinction between the two. Do you want to interpret what they are trying to say or do you wanna play word games? Disingenuous.

          • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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            15 hours ago

            Yeah sure, they want to eat cake and still have it. That’s a gutter level sophistry nobody would ever eat except people wanting hard to believe it like you. And you call me disingenous, lol.

            Also that cake is shit with poison topping, so bon apetit.

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      16 hours ago

      President Donald Trump and the republican party who are currently running the government are going to learn that their poor foreign policy has electoral consequences.

      Everyone should vote for his opponent, Kamala Harris, who is in no shape or form part of the current government. This will show current President Donald Trump and his republican party that they have crossed a red line which nobody will vote for.

        • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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          1 day ago

          Arab americans are sick of having their homelands bombed by democrats. The Obama administration for example dropped an average of 60 bombs per day on the middle east and north africa during his presidency.

          • _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works
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            Let’s not even attempt to pretend like republicans are not also responsible, because… ?

            What do you think her opponent would do if elected? Pick the lesser evil, damn.