A Further Call on USCMO and Member Orgs to #DropEmgage
(DEARBORN, MI – September 23, 2020) – Today, the “Drop Emgage” campaign recognizes American Muslims for Palestine’s (AMP) critical step towards dropping Emgage USA entirely. In its statement dated September 22, 2020, the Palestine advocacy group recognized and confirmed Emgage’s problematic and substantiated affiliations with anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian Zionist groups, including the ADL, AJC, and others.
The “Drop Emgage” campaign (https://www.dropemgage.com) calls on Emgage to end its normalization activities with Zionist groups “in accordance with BDS principles.” Further, the campaign has called on “all organizations and individuals to drop any affiliations with Emgage in the absence of such assurances and statements.”
Yesterday, AMP stated its clear intention to drop Emgage: “Until these demands of the Palestinian and the Muslim communities’ leadership are met, AMP will continue to impose a prohibition on a collaborative relationship with Emgage.”
We call on all council members of the United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Muslim American Society (MAS), to follow AMP’s lead and immediately suspend all collaboration, including coalition partnerships, with Emgage, until they rectify and resolve the aforementioned issues of concern.
We further call on the USCMO to suspend Emgage from its coalition, or, in the alternative, we call on all USCMO council members to leave the coalition in the absence of such action.
The evidence of Emgage leadership’s affiliations with Zionist groups is overwhelming and has been substantiated by multiple parties. There is absolutely no reason for any organization to delay or defer a decision to drop the group until after the election. The time to act is now.
Normalization with Zionism is a red line in our communities. Solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for liberation is a core value for us. There can be no wavering on this.
Background:
On September 9, 2020, The Electronic Intifada published an investigative report revealing that a number of Emgage USA leaders have maintained long and deep ties with anti-Palestine and anti-Muslim groups, such as the ADL, AJC, WINEP, AIPAC and the Shalom Hartman Institute through MLI. Such relationships still exist today. [1]
On September 15, activists issued an open letter to community leadership to drop Emgage. As of today, more than 200 leaders, activists and scholars have signed it. [2]
On September 18th, a former Emgage employee published an oped, confirming the claims against the organization and accusing Emgage of running a sham voter mobilization campaign. [3]
In a statement issued September 22, AMP declared:
“We demand that Emgage, its members, and its family of organizations 1) openly respond to and rectify all outstanding accusations; 2) renounce all past and current affiliations with Zionist organizations; and 3) take verifiable steps that they are in compliance with the principles stated above… In the meantime, until these demands of the Palestinian and the Muslim communities’ leadership are met, AMP will continue to impose a prohibition on a collaborative relationship with Emgage.” [4]
CALL TO ACTION:
1. Sign the Drop Emgage open letter at https://www.dropemgage.com
2. Urge USCMO, CAIR, ICNA and MAS to Drop Emgage.
References:
1. https://electronicintifada.net/content/meet-emgage-pro-israel-muslims-backing-joe-biden/31146
2. https://www.dropemgage.com
3. https://mondoweiss.net/2020/09/behind-the-scenes-of-the-gotv-sham-and-foreign-policy-concessions-of-emgage-pac/
4. https://www.ampalestine.org/newsroom/on-emgage-and-its-connection-to-zionist-groups