Brothers, after a year of watching genocide unfold in Palestine, abandoning Harris feels right to you. But how will you feel when Donald Trump begins enacting everything he has promised?
Though none of us can know the mind of Allah, failure to think through the likely consequences of our actions may very well nullify our good intentions.
I fear that the five of you and the many other Muslim leaders who have joined the Abandon Harris movement are doing a disservice to Palestinians and American Muslims. The letter four of you have signed urging Muslims and their allies to vote third party for the presidential ticket states, “We are not choosing between a lesser and greater evil; we are staring down two monstrous evils.” And yet, one clearly is greater than the other.
Elsewhere your letter states: “We are fully aware of the threats a Trump presidency poses to this country on the domestic front.” The concluding paragraph refers to Israel’s war on the Palestinians as “the greatest catastrophe in modern history”, and states that the Republican promise is to “only worsen this evil”.
What you advocate will improve the chances of a very sick, vengeful, and dangerous man regaining the White House.
I beg of you, brothers, to re-think this one.
Yes, the Democratic Party has failed the Palestinians. We cannot overlook this fact, nor should we forgive it. But voting third party can only worsen the plight of the Palestinians.
Instead, let’s organize with our allies to challenge all the pro-Israel Congressional incumbents we can in the upcoming 2026 primaries. Let’s get started now, and do so publicly, with local committees to recruit viable candidates who can articulate what a balanced policy on Palestine and Israel would look like, and who are conversant on the range of issues Congress deals with.
Where we can field challengers, incumbents will have to choose between adopting new, balanced positions on Palestine and Israel and losing votes in their primaries. Inshallah, some incumbents will lose altogether. With young voters increasingly more thoughtful on this issue, the Democratic leaders can learn to read the writing on the wall.
In politics, there is no substitute for the hard work of organizing. While you are advocating a course of action which on its surface seems counter-productive, groups like Justice Democrats and Emgage, which some of you denigrate, are organizing to counter AIPAC and grow support in Congress to halt offensive military aid to Israel.
At 66 I have voted Green a couple times. The last was in 2000 when I voted for Ralph Nader, only to wonder after 9/11 if I had helped to elect George Bush.
Salaam,
Todd Buchanan
Reform CAIR 