It will probably come as no surprise that Muffti is no fan of Jpost contributor Caroline Glick. However, she wrote a column that puzzled Muffti a great deal and he would like to take this opportunity to solicit expert opinion. Interesting considerations in any case. Muffti will put the first bit here for you, read the rest at Jpost.
Josh Mandel is a first-term legislator in the Ohio House of Representatives. He is also a sergeant in the US Marine Corps reserves. Last year, Mandel arrived at the state house in Columbus 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 experiences 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 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 House Speaker Jon Hustead. Hustead amended the bill along AIPAC’s suggested lines.
Mandel’s experience is not unique.
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Here’s an expert opinion.
Thank g-d for people like Glick. We have plenty of Streisands to go around.
Not an expert, but maybe they don’t want to bolster campus- and state-based divestment campaigns in general as a tactic for dealing with the middle east. Such campaigns have and will continue to be directed at Israel. I think AIPAC would prefer these decisions be made at the top, where they have a lot of influence.