A number of Arab and Islamic organizations in the United States have called on the American Muslim population to boycott the presidential election on Tuesday in opposition to the foreign policies of the US in the Middle East, they said during a meeting between the Arab Spring Group and the Diaspora Commission Group in a meeting Sunday that included a number of Arab thinkers and activists.
“The call for boycotting is a result of different American administrations not committing to the establishment of the Palestinian state and furthermore the usage of the veto at the [United Nations] Security Council to prevent international recognition of an independent state,” a statement from the group said.
It continued that “in addition to its hostile policies from invading and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and its military presence in the region meant to control it and drain its wealth” American Muslims should not vote in the election.
They argued that both candidates’ agendas did not include the region’s geo-political crisis in addition to the constant siding with Israel over any issue pertaining to Arabs or Palestinians.
“We hope that the Islamic and Arab voting block unify their position on boycotting the elections,” Ayman al-Raqeeb, general coordinator of the Arab Spring Assembly, an activism group, said in a press release.
According to the Arab-American Institute, there are some two million Arab-Americans in the United States.
In the 2008 election, President Barack Obama won the vast majority of Arab voters in winning the election.