US Muslim leaders call for ‘protest vote’ for Kerry.

“I’m sorry to say it, but that’s the way it is,” said Nidal Elayan, 38, who is backing Kerry, even though “he’s just like Bush on the Middle East and he voted for the Patriot Act.”

In the eyes of the Palestinian-born computer programmer, the imperative this election year is to get rid of Bush, and voting one’s conscience is a luxury he cannot afford.

Many in the grassroots community and even the leadership favour the independent candidate Ralph Nader — but not enough to risk a Bush victory. A long-shot, Nader is only on the ballot in 34 of 50 states.

“A lot of Muslims want to vote on principle for Nader,” said community activist Haaris Ahmad on the sidelines of a Muslim election forum in suburban Detroit this month.

“Most of the community is not excited about voting for Kerry. He hasn’t offered us much of an alternative to Bush. He hasn’t reached out to us. Unfortunately, we have no choice.”

Polls show the overarching issue for most of the three million registered Muslim voters is civil liberties, and the perceived erosion of them by Bush’s Republican administration in its prosecution of the war on terror.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also front and center for many Arabs along with the situation in Iraq.

They’d be much more enthusiastic if they knew for sure that Kerry was going to let the intifada get a fresh start.