While the campaign has been brewing for months, the controversy over renegade Labor senator Fatima Payman and her full-throated support for Palestine has spurred efforts in recent days.
The Australian organisation examines 27 seats where Muslims make up between 3 per cent (Tangney, WA) and 31.7 per cent (Blaxland, NSW) of the population, according to census data. Twenty-five seats are held by Labor, one by Liberal frontbencher David Coleman, and one by independent Dai Le.
It assesses MPs as weak, satisfactory, modest or strong on support for Palestine, “mostly silent on Palestine” or “strong solidarity on Israel”, based on public statements, how they voted on a Greens ceasefire motion in October or declarations of support for South Africa’s claim of genocide.
Labor backbenchers Graham Perrett, Julian Hill and Maria Vamvakinou are the only MPs rated as “strong” supporters of Palestine. Ed Husic, Australia’s first Muslim federal cabinet minister, who in October accused Israel of collective punishment against Gazans, is rated as only a modest supporter of Palestine.
The website specifically states it does not endorse Education Minister Jason Clare, who holds Blaxland, and Employment Minister Tony Burke, who holds the neighbouring Sydney seat of Watson which has a 25.1 per cent Muslim population.
The Muslim Vote makes no mention of policies, other than a desire to amplify the Muslim voice “across the political spectrum on issues like Palestine, social housing, the cost of living, and facilities that cater to our communities”. It makes no mention, for instance, of wanting to adopt sharia law.
“Beyond this, we look to create viable grassroots political infrastructure in our communities. Having an independent voice is real representation of the issues, unlike a political party,” the website said.
Sydney Islamic community leader Sheik Wesam Charkawi is reportedly the driving force behind the Muslim Vote. Sheik Charkawi has not spoken to the media about his plans.
Sydney barrister Mahmud Hawila is another key figure helping advise community leaders to marshal the Muslim vote.
Screenshot of the British Muslim Vote website.
Mr Hawila, a former NSW police officer, represented the organisers behind last year’s controversial pro-Palestine protest rally at the Sydney Opera House.
With Britons going to the polls on Thursday, the UK version of the Muslim Vote has made recommendations on who Muslims should support in seats where 10 per cent of the population identify as Islamic.
Most of these seats are Labour-held, but in many cases the organisation is advising people to vote for independents of Muslim background, Greens candidates or members of the far-left Workers Party of Britain, led by maverick MP George Galloway. This is despite many Labour MPs voting in Westminster in support of a ceasefire.
In the US, Arab Americans living in Michigan got behind a campaign that saw 100,000 people vote “uncommitted” in the Democrat primary as a protest against Joe Biden. If those 100,000 voters fail to turn out on election day, it could cost Mr Biden the key swing state.