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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Illinois divests $133 million in anti-nuclear Iran initiative
By Jane CHARNEY, Staff Writer Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, 9/24/09


Illinois State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg and Rep. Lou Lang announced Sept. 24 the results of a significant state-level effort to curb Iran’s nuclear threat: the divestment of $133 million in state pension funds from foreign companies doing business with Iran’s energy sector.

Illinois has been at the forefront of efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program. In fact, the state passed the nation’s second divestment bill in 2007. The Illinois bill also was the first to require foreign companies seeking business with the state to indicate if they are doing business with Iran’s energy sector.

“The law declares simply the state’s readiness not just to speak out against Iran’s recklessness but to act to curb it as well,” Shoenberg said at a press conference announcing the results of divestment (watch the video of the event). “As long as the Iranian leadership continues to pursue nuclear weapons in defiance of international law, we are absolutely compelled to withhold our public investments from this rogue country.”

State Reps. Will Davis, Linda Chapa LaVia, and Sid Mathias, all of whom co-sponsored the original bill in 2007, again showed their support for the anti-Iran initiative by attending the press conference.

JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council and its Government Affairs Office in Springfield played a key role in securing support for the legislation. They also worked with business associations generally opposed to divestment to remain neutral on the Illinois law and with the state pension boards’ compliance and general counsel officers on implementation and reporting.

“While others are calling for action and talking about what to do, Illinois already has acted and has emerged as a leader in this area,” said JUF Executive Vice President Michael Kotzin, who also spoke at the press conference. Read his entire remarks.

Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has been the top focus of lobbying efforts by Jewish organizations nationwide. In early September, 20 Chicagoans joined about 300 Jewish community leaders from around the country to urge lawmakers on Capitol Hill to take a tougher stance on Iran as part of the National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran, coordinated by the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Iran. Rallies also took place Sept. 24 in New York and several other cities in solidarity with Iran’s opposition movement, which stood up against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rule.

Jewish and non-Jewish lay leaders, students, and JUF staff met with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Illinois Reps. Jerry Costello, Danny K. Davis, Luis Gutierrez, Bill Foster, Phil Hare, Debbie Halvorson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Mark Kirk, Donald Manzullo, Mike Quigley, Peter Roskam, Aaron Schock and Jan Schakowsky to discuss upcoming House bills connected to Iran. Chicagoans comprised one of the largest groups at the fly-in.

The Illinois congressional delegation has been supportive of anti-nuclear Iran efforts. In particular, the entire delegation signed on as co-sponsors of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009, which would strengthen the President’s authority to impose sanctions on any entity providing Iran with refined petroleum resources. Illinois legislators also are co-sponsoring the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, which requires federal support for local and state governments’ and educational institutions’ divestment from entities investing more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector.
President Obama: "The time has come to re-launch negotiations without preconditions that address the permanent status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. And the goal is clear: Two states living side by side in peace and security - a Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people." September 23, 2009, UN Speech




The lesson of Oslo, Camp David and Annapolis is clear-cut: Even the most moderate Palestinian leadership is not prepared to accept Israel's most far-reaching peace proposal. In 16 years of a painstaking and exhausting peace process, the Palestinians never agreed to a single concession on a core issue. Their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, to agree to demilitarize a Palestinian state or to give up their demand for the return of refugees to Israel has blocked peace in the past, is blocking peace in the present and will continue doing so for the foreseeable future. As of now, there is no genuine Palestinian partner for the partition of the country. Obama's Palestinian problem can't be swept under a carpet of words. -- Avi Shavit , September 24, 2009 Ha'aretz