WHY IS AIPAC BLOCKING DIVESTMENT FROM TERROR SUPPORTING COUNTRIES?

Why is AIPAC undermining attempts to financially isolate terror supporters? By Caroline B. Glick (JWR)

Josh Mandel is a first-term legislator in the State of Ohio's House of Representatives. He is also a US Marine Corps sergeant in reserves. Last year, Mandel arrived at the state house after a tour of duty in Iraq. There, he saw first-hand how Iran was fuelling the insurgency that is killing his fellow servicemen and Iraqi innocents. His experience led him to introduce a bill that would divest Ohio's public employee pension funds from companies that do business with Iran and fellow state sponsor of terror Sudan.

As his bill made its way through the various committees, Mandel's initiative received a body blow from an unexpected direction. AIPAC representatives approached him and asked him to pare down his bill's divestment requirements to include only companies that invest more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sector.

Mandel was surprised. Why should companies that invest in Iran's defense, telecommunications and other sectors be immune from divestment? AIPAC went over his head to Ohio's House Speaker Jon Hustead. Hustead amended the bill along AIPAC's suggested lines.

Mandel's experience is not unique.

NEW JERSEY SET TO DIVEST FROM IRAN

New Jersey Governor Receives Iranian Divestment Bill - Josh Lipowsky
New Jersey is slated to become the first state in the country to divest its pension funds from Iranian-linked companies if the governor signs legislation that passed out of the state legislature last week. As the result of a law passed last year, the state divested $2.16 billion from 17 companies linked to Sudan. New Jersey's state pension fund is worth about $80 billion, making it the ninth largest in the country.

"The passage of this legislation would [mean] that we can't put any of these large amounts of money into funds that would directly benefit Iran," said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg. "It's our way in the state of New Jersey of making a statement, as well as putting our money where our collective mouths are on an issue of international importance." (New Jersey Jewish Standard)

TEXAS MOVES TOWARD IRAN DIVESTMENT

Texas Governor Asks State Pensions to End Investments in Iran - Darrell Preston
Texas Governor Rick Perry asked the state's largest public pension funds to stop investing in companies doing business in Iran because of its support of state-sponsored terrorism and aggressive stance against Israel. Perry requested that the $24.9 billion Employee Retirement System and $108 billion Teachers Retirement System pull investments from some of the 400 companies with ties to Iran. "While Texas cannot set its own foreign policy, we can send a strong message that Texans will not condone Iran's continued support of those seeking to do harm to our men and women in uniform,'' Perry said. (Bloomberg)

CALIFORNIA DIVESTS FROM IRAN

California: State to Divest Iran Holdings - Jesse McKinley
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would sign a bill forcing two of its huge pension funds to divest from any company doing business in Iran. The bill, which sailed through the legislature earlier this year, would pull out at least $3.4 billion invested by two retirement funds controlled by the state's public employees and teachers. (New York Times)

FLORIDA DIVESTS FROM IRAN, SUDAN

Florida Divests from Iran, Sudan - Bill Kaczor
Florida's public employee retirement fund will divest nearly $1.3 billion invested with 21 companies doing business in Iran or Sudan, after the State Board of Administration authorized the divestiture Wednesday. The law bars investing pension money in any company doing business in Sudan or in Iran's energy sector because both countries are on the State Department's list of terror-sponsoring nations. (AP)

AIPAC ACTION ALERT: CALIFORNIA

California Senate to Vote on Iran Divestment Bill
Urge Your State Senator to Vote for AB 221

The California Divest from Iran Act (AB 221) is expected to come before the State Senate as early as TOMORROW, Thursday, September 6. Introduced by Assemblyman Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon), AB 221 will prohibit the state's public pension funds from investing in companies with business ties to Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors. Depriving Iran of investment in these sectors of their economy will send a clear message to Tehran that they must give up their nuclear weapons program.

Current co-authors of AB 221 in the Senate include Senators Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), James Battin (R-Riverside), Dave Cogdill (R-Fresno), Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), George Runner (R-Santa Clarita) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

The bill, which passed the State Assembly 75-0 earlier this session, passed unanimously out of the Senate Public Employee Retirement (5-0), Senate Judiciary (5-0) and Senate Appropriations (15-0) Committees.

ACTION

Please call your State Senator in Sacramento and urge him or her to vote for the California Public Divest from Iran Act (AB 221). Click here to look up your State Senator's contact information.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL

The California Public Divest from Iran Act:

• Requires the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to review their holdings in companies investing in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Mandates pension funds divest their direct holdings from companies invested in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Calls on the pension fund managers to review their holdings in mutual funds, index funds, or other commingled investments, and identify ways to create alternative funds without holdings in these companies.
• Requires a report of all state pension holdings and actions taken to be submitted to the state legislature on an annual basis to ensure the full implementation of the legislation.
  

TALKING POINTS

Time to Act

• Iran is accelerating its nuclear development program in defiance of mandatory U.N. Security Council resolutions.
• Combined with its support for international terrorism, a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to the United States and its allies.
• CalPERS and CalSTRS are the largest state pension systems in the country. Californians can ensure that our state's financial holdings are not invested in companies that provide Iran critically-needed capital it uses to advance its nuclear program.

Investments in Iran Pose a Financial Risk to California Shareholders

• The SEC has determined that there is a special risk associated with investments in terror-sponsoring states such as Iran.
• Additionally, companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's petroleum and natural gas sector are liable to sanctions under U.S law.
• Moreover, economic sanctions, embargos and loan restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council further increase the financial risk associated with investments in this rogue state.
• As members of the largest public pension systems in the country, we are deeply concerned that the state's holdings in companies with investments in Iran pose a financial risk to the shareholders. It is both morally wrong and financially irresponsible for the state to invest funds in these companies.
• The California Public Divest from Iran Act will safeguard Californians from such risky investments.

TERROR-FREE MUTUAL FUND

Terror-Free Mutual Fund (JPC)
Bob Frick at Kiplinger's Personal Finance makes a compelling case for investing in the "Roosevelt Anti-Terror Multi-Cap" mutual fund.

The fund has performed well by avoiding stocks of companies that work with Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria. Over five years, the fund ( BULLX) returned more than 16% annualized. With good returns, low minimum, low expenses (1.28% annually) and the anti-terror hook, the fund may be useful to the growing list of states that passed laws requiring their pension funds to divest from terror-related companies.

Read our recent posts on the divestment movement here and here. Read about Beverly Hills efforts to divest from Iran here. See the SEC list of companies the avoid here. Finally, read my recent article about the key role that congress must play here.

NEW ENGLAND METHODISTS WEIGH ISRAEL DIVESTMENT

New England Methodists Weigh Divestment from Israel - Michael Paulson
The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church is advising congregations and individuals to divest their holdings from a wide variety of American corporations doing business with Israel. The action is giving new energy to the divestment movement, which had lost steam in other mainline Protestant denominations. In June, after two years of research, a committee released a list of 20 companies from which it recommends divestment, including Blockbuster, Boeing, General Electric, Raytheon and Volvo. Blockbuster was criticized for maintaining video rental kiosks in Israeli settlements.

Leading Jewish organizations argue that divestment is not appropriate because Israel is unable to work with a Palestinian government that is associated with terrorism. Among the individuals who are not supporting the action is Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference. "I believe we ought to be continuing in conversation with the Israeli leadership, as well as the Palestinian leadership, and trying to be evenhanded in our call for justice," he said. (Boston Globe)

LET STATES DIVEST FROM IRAN

Let States Divest From Iran by Jonathan Schanzer and Howard Slugh (JPC)
Last month, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill ordering his state to divest its pension fund from businesses that work with Iran's energy sector. The legislation, led by Adam Hasner, Republican majority leader of Florida's House of Representatives, passed unanimously in both chambers of the Legislature. Unfortunately, the state legislation is unconstitutional. Only new federal legislation can legally allow states to divest from Iran.

In 1996, Massachusetts restricted state businesses from working with companies that dealt with Myanmar, formerly called Burma. Massachusetts sought to press Myanmar's military junta to take steps toward democracy and provide better treatment for dissidents. In 2000, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the Massachusetts law in Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council.

The problem was that the state legislation conflicted with a federal statute that enabled the president to impose sanctions on Myanmar. The court argued that the president "has less to offer and less economic and diplomatic leverage as a consequence" of the Massachusetts law. According to the Constitution's supremacy clause, federal sanctions must trump state law.

Florida's sanctions against Iran could face a similar fate. Under federal law, only Congress and the president can implement federal tools - such as the Iran Freedom Support Act - to deter Iran from nuclear proliferation and terrorism. As in the Myanmar case, the Florida divestment plan conflicts with federal sanctions.

Florida has attempted to distinguish its statute from Massachusetts' by adding wording claiming that the law aims to lower fiduciary risk, not create an alternate foreign policy. But just because a state claims its law doesn't conflict with federal law doesn't make it so. The Florida law could be struck down if challenged - unless Congress does the right thing.

The House and Senate are considering the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act to authorize states to pass divestment laws aimed at Iran's energy sector. The bill would cure any constitutional conflict. It would integrate the state sanctions as an element of congressional sanctions, rather than leaving them outside the congressional framework.

Broad bipartisan support of this bill is a sign that Congress sees sanctions - on both the state and federal levels - as an important tool to weaken Iran. It also shows that Congress understands that divestment is a tool that Americans broadly support. Indeed, the growing "terror-free investing" movement is gaining traction nationwide. It echoes grass-roots efforts to divest from South Africa in the 1980s, which eventually brought the apartheid regime to its knees.

Despite the bill's wide popularity, some in Washington oppose it. William Reinsch, former commerce undersecretary in the Clinton administration and current president of the National Foreign Trade Council, claims that "a unified U.S. foreign policy - not multiple state sanctions or divestment laws - is best suited to address" the Iran challenge. Those who join Mr. Reinsch in opposing the bill claim that divestment would create economic tensions with our allies, making it more difficult to act multilaterally.

Opponents of the bill fail to understand that the lack of enforcement of federal sanctions in the past is exactly why the American people have taken matters into their own hands. They have lobbied their state legislatures because they want to punish Iran. They do not care whether their states offend our allies who continue to do business with Iran.

A handful of states are considering their own divestment bills, including Maryland, where Del. Ron George, an Anne Arundel County Republican, has proposed legislation that would bar the state pension fund from investing in companies tied to Iran. Other states are weighing different divestment options. In Ohio, state Rep. Josh Mandel reports that he and his colleagues led an effort for "state pension funds to divest the retirement dollars of policemen, firefighters and teachers from an Iranian regime that is calling for the destruction of America and Israel."

The House and Senate have deliberated over the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act since May. It is imperative that Congress pass the bill quickly, to ensure that these state efforts are constitutional. This is an effective way to push Iran to cease developing nuclear weapons and to encumber its efforts to support terrorism.

SEE ALSO: Michigan House Approves Divestment Bills Aimed at Sudan, Iran
The Michigan state House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved bills calling for state retirement funds to break ties with some foreign companies doing business in Sudan and Iran. Both bills now go to the state Senate. Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports the bills. According to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, 19 states and more than 50 universities have adopted some sort of divestment policy related to the African nation. The bill targeting Iran passed 104-2. (AP/International Herald Tribune)

CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS LOBBY AGAINST IRAN

Christian Zionists: Ahmadinejad Is New Hitler - Yitzhak Benhorin (Ynet News)
Thousands of members of Christians United for Israel headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby Congress on behalf of Israel. The group's founder, the Reverend John Hagee, called on President Bush to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

He also called for American divestment from Iran, which he compared to Nazi Germany as a threat to the Jewish people. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Salai Meridor told the group, "We must make it clear to the Iranians that all options are on the table and that there is no way they will be allowed to hold nuclear weapons."

METHODIST CHURCH TO DIVEST FROM COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS WITH ISRAEL

Bush, Clinton called to condemn antisemitism of UMC (JNW)
US President George W. Bush and Senator Hillary Clinton have been asked to distance themselves from the recent decision of the United Methodist Church (UMC) to divest from companies doing business with Israel. Both politicians are Methodists.

The Anti-Defamation League sharply criticized the one-sided statement released by the “Divestment Task Force” of the UMC’s New England Conference, which asserted that “the urgency of the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories cannot be overstated” but completely disregarded the unrelenting terrorist attacks against Israelis being perpetrated by those very Arabs.

Continuing, the ADL said “the authors of the report must be living in a bubble to ignore ongoing attacks on Israel and Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza to issue such an outrageous, biased report that focuses only on Israel."

Representatives for Bush and Clinton did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on the Methodist divestment action, according to the New York Sun.

CALIFORNIA VOTES TO DIVEST FROM IRAN

AIPAC ACTION ALERT:

June 7, 2007

Thank California Assembly Members for

Voting for Bill to Divest State Funds From Iran

Thanks to your outreach, the 'California Public Divest from Iran Act' (AB 221) passed out of the State Assembly on Tuesday, June 5, by a vote of 75-0.

ACTION

Please call California Assembly Members in their Sacramento offices and thank them for supporting AB 221, the California Public Divest from Iran Act. A complete list of Assembly members who supported the measure is below.

The legislation now moves to the State Senate and will likely be referred first to the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. If you are a constituent of any of the 5 members of the California Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee (Ashburn, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod, or Wiggins), please call your Senator to encourage his or her support for the bill. Click here to look up your state officials and their contact information.*

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL

The California Public Divest from Iran Act, introduced in the California State Assembly by Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon), with 26 co-authors, including principal co-authors Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), Ted Lieu (D-El Segundo), Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) and Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim), will prohibit the state's public pension funds from investing in companies with business ties to Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.

The California Public Divest from Iran Act:

• Requires the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to review their holdings in companies investing in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Mandates pension funds divest their direct holdings from companies invested in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Calls on the pension fund managers to review their holdings in mutual funds, index funds, or other commingled investments, and identify ways to create alternative funds without holdings in these companies.
• Requires a report of all state pension holdings and actions taken to be submitted to the state legislature on an annual basis to ensure the full implementation of the legislation.

TALKING POINTS

Time to Act

• Iran is accelerating its nuclear development program in defiance of mandatory U.N. Security Council resolutions.
• Combined with its support for international terrorism, a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to the United States and its allies.
• CalPERS and CalSTRS are the largest state pension systems in the country. Californians can ensure that our state's financial holdings are not invested in companies that provide Iran critically-needed capital it uses to advance its nuclear program.

Investments in Iran Pose a Financial Risk to California Shareholders

• The SEC has determined that there is a special risk associated with investments in terror-sponsoring states such as Iran.
• Additionally, companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's petroleum and natural gas sector are liable to sanctions under U.S law.
• Moreover, economic sanctions, embargos and loan restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council further increase the financial risk associated with investments in this rogue state.
• As members of the largest public pension systems in the country, we are deeply concerned that the state's holdings in companies with investments in Iran pose a financial risk to the shareholders. It is both morally wrong and financially irresponsible for the state to invest funds in these companies.
• The California Public Divest from Iran Act will safeguard Californians from such risky investments.

ASsembly Members who voted for ab 221

Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Richardson, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Nunez

HOWARD UNIVERSITY'S PRESIDENT REJECTS FACULTY RESOLUTION CALLING FOR DIVESTMENT FROM ISRAEL

University head firm on Israel stance (JPost)
Howard University's president has rejected a faculty resolution calling on the school to become the first American institution of higher learning to divest from certain companies doing business with Israel. "Without qualification, Howard University and I oppose any action calling for a divestiture" from Israel, President H. Patrick Swygert stressed in a letter Thursday to the American Jewish Committee.

The AJC had written to him after learning of the resolution to express the organization's distress over the development.

"I hope that my complete and unqualified rejection of this resolution will serve to reaffirm our relationship with the American Jewish Committee and all our friends who are interested in promoting peace and reconciliation," Swygert wrote.

He also said that the resolution had not been approved according to university procedures and therefore did not represent the position of the university or the College of Arts and Sciences from which it emerged.

He also stressed that the board of trustees would have needed to approve any such resolution.

Howard, one of the country's leading historically black colleges, has about 10,000 students and is located within the District of Columbia....

According to Hillel President Wayne Firestone, in the last year or so divest-from-Israel campaigns have lost steam. While in the past faculty and student groups have tried similar "stealth" tactics to get divestment resolutions adopted - none having been as successful as the Howard effort, to his knowledge - Firestone said that trend had virtually ended.

"Overall divestment actions as a national movement are dead. They do pop up from time to time as a grassroots effort," he said, explaining their lack of success as having been a "very hard sell."

"Divest from Israel in favor of what?" he asked. Hamas and Hizbullah? "It's a very negative message," he added. "Universities themselves have no interest in alienating the Jewish community on this issue."

The AJC welcomed Stygert's response, particularly the alacrity with which he addressed the issue.

"Howard University is an important institution and has been a long-standing partner with the Jewish community," said [Melanie]. "It's disturbing to us that a small group of academics would jeopardize the university's reputation as a bridge-builder by trying to promulgate something so one-sided that doesn't advance the cause of peace."