Wiesenthal Center Applauds Gov. Schwarzenegger Pledge To Sign Iran Divestment Measure

September 24, 2007

WIESENTHAL CENTER APPLAUDS GOV SCHWARZENEGGER PLEDGE TO SIGN IRAN DIVESTMENT MEASURE

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today applauded Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s announcement that he plans to sign Assembly Bill 221 which would prohibit California retirement plans from investing in companies that do business with Iran.

“AB221 sends a clear message to the tyrannical regime in Tehran that America’s workers will oppose terrorist policies and the drive towards nuclearization,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “It is fortuitous that the announcement comes on the day when the Governor spoke at the U.N. and when President Ahmadinejad has been given the mantle of legitimacy by Columbia University,” he added.

Rabbi Cooper stressed that the legislation should not be seen as anti-Iranian. “We hope and pray that the day will soon come when these sanctions against terrorist policies will be removed and that Tehran will never become the Terrorism Capitol of the world,” Cooper concluded.

Photo: Rabbi Abraham Cooper joined Assemblymembers Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) and Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), the sponsors of AB221, to hail the passage of this bill at Beverly Hills City Hall.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036.