Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2010, Pages 42-43
Southern California Chronicle
Campaign Aims to Divest State Funds From Corporations Enabling Israeli Occupation
By Pat and Samir Twair
If 434,000 signatures of registered voters can be collected by Jan. 31, California will become the first state in the nation with a ballot measure to divest state public employee and teacher pension funds from corporations that violate the human rights of Palestinians.
When the state attorney general's office approved the measure for circulation, it stated the initiative "prohibits state retirement funds from investing in companies engaged in certain business activities in Israel." The targeted funds account for more than $1.5 billion of California's public employees (PERS) and teachers (STRS) pension funds invested in corporations that provide materials for the construction or maintenance of Israeli settlements or that provide military supplies and services to Israel.
The Israel Divestment Campaign (IDC) was launched Sept. 8 with the ceremonial signing of a giant petition in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles. First to sign was Chris Yatooma, an Iraqi-American activist who decided that if state politicians won't act on a gross injustice, voters should take matters into their own hands and democratically establish a ballot measure. That's where the 434,000 signatures come in, so the IDC is fanning out into most of California's 58 counties and college campuses to collect valid voters' names.
Divestment targets include United Technologies, the corporation that produces Blackhawk helicopters for the Israeli military to attack Palestinian cities, refugee camps and villages. STRS has $478.6 million and PERS $132 million invested in UT, which also produces engines for Israel's F-15 and F-16 aircraft which systematically attack Palestinians.
General Electric is another offender, currently benefitting from $179.7 million in STRS funds and $326.8 million from PERS. GE supplies the propulsion systems for Israel's AH-64 Apache assault helicopters and engines for other Israeli military aircraft.
Caterpillar, which holds $62.4 million of STRS funds and $52.7 million of PERS funds, produces bulldozers that destroy Palestinian homes, orchards and olive groves. Its equipment is also used to clear Palestinian land for the erection of Israel's illegal settlements and apartheid wall. Protests at Caterpillar stockholder meetings, and even the killing of Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an IDF-driven Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza, have not moved the conscience of stockholders and executives to stop shipments to Israel.
Motorola, which holds $63.55 million from STRS and $45.2 million from PERS, provides radar systems for security at illegal settlements on the West Bank and provides the Israeli military with a "Mountain Rose" cell phone communication system.
ITT, in which STRS has invested $38.3 million and PERS $19.2 million, provides the Israeli military with parts for night vision goggles used by pilots and helicopter crews when attacking defenseless Palestinian refugee camps and towns at night.
Other corporations on the IDC divestment list are Northrop Grumman, Terex, Veolia and Elbit Systems.
At the Sept. 8 ceremony, Dick Platkin of L.A. Jews for Peace read a statement from Marcy Winograd, who challenged pro-Israel Rep. Jane Harman in California's June Democratic primary. It stated in part: "Let us divest of our stock in Caterpillar, which makes bullet-proof tractors that slice Palestinian homes to ribbons in minutes; Let us divest of General Electric that builds the weapons that terrorize the next generation in Gaza. Let us give the people of our great golden state, California, an opportunity to promote peace by saying NO to companies involved in ever-expanding settlements that erase the beautiful olive trees of Palestine, only to generate more hatred."
For more information, visit http://www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org
A unique art exhibit combining music, film screenings, book signings and a monologue by Middle Eastern artists was presented for two days at the 2nd City Council Gallery and Performance Space in Long Beach.
Several hundred guests arrived Oct. 9 for two opening receptions celebrating artistic expressions of Arab Americans. "Beyond Borders" was the theme selected for the ambitious program showcasing the diverse talents of artists working to connect their cultural roots in the Middle East with their lives in the West.
Artist Reem Hammad was curator of the exhibition representing paintings and sculptures of 21 artists. Carole Choucair Ouejian was the chairwoman. The House of Lebanon sponsored the event.
A highlight of the opening ceremony was a solo performance by Rosanna Cacace enacting a scene from her "Three Roses of Lebanon," a monologue presenting three women united by love and divided by old traditions.
Even though the scheduled performance by acclaimed musician Naser Musa was cancelled at the last minute due to illness, oud virtuoso Dann Torres saved the day by rendering classical Arab music in his experimental, but haunting, fusion style.
Authors Hanna Hajjar, Fadi Mamar, Dr. Fayed Oweis and Linda Dalal Sawaya signed their books, and films by Natasha Atalla, Georges Chamchoum, Wissam Kabbara and Michael Rababy were screened.
On Oct. 10, a special mosaic workshop was offered to children. Curator Hammad said the success of this initial endeavor is likely to make the multi-faceted exhibition an annual event.
ANSWER Hosts Hot Event
Even though the temperature in Los Angeles soared to 112 degrees on Sept. 25, dedicated activists still crowded into the non-air-conditioned L.A. headquarters of ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and Racism) for a forum on Palestine.
There the audience intently watched "The Sand Creek Equation," a documentary by Travis Wilkerson that depicts the deliberate massacre of 200 Native Americans by the U.S. Army in mid-19th century Colorado, then shows the actual treatment of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Tamara Khoury, a student at California State University Fullerton, discussed her summer at Birzeit University as a recipient of a Rachel Corrie scholarship from the Palestine American Women's Association.
Muna Coobtee discussed the "peace" talks between the Palestine Authority and Israel. "The White House aims to create a weak, disarmed and broken-up state side-by-side with and dominated in every respect by Israel," Coobtee commented.
Blog Retort to Israel's Invitation to Chilean Miners
Minutes after Robin McLaren read Israel's Oct. 18 invitation to the 33 rescued Chilean miners to enjoy an expense-paid tour of the "Holy Land" at Christmas, the outspoken blogger sent an open letter to the men on her "Under the Holly Tree" blog (<http://thehollytree.blogspot.com/2010/10/dear-chilean-miners-please-do-not.html>).
McLaren implored the miners to beware of Israel's Trojan horse bearing gifts from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism that only would polish the tarnished image of the apartheid state.
Within 12 hours, McLaren's blogged open letter to the miners had circled the globe four times. Her appeal was translated into Spanish by Palestinians, the Chilean Bishop's Council, editor of the Catholic News, and the Bethlehem 2000 Foundation in Chile notified her they were spreading her message to the miners.
Twenty-four hours later, McLaren's message was dominating Facebook from Jerusalem to Johahannesburg.
Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles.
