I-97 Campaign Denounces Attempts to Interfere with Signature Gathering
Initiative Opponents distribute "fact sheet" with falsehoods and half-truths at signature-gathering sites
For Immediate Release: July 29, 2008
The Seattle Divest from War & Occupation campaign denounces attempts to confuse Seattle voters and pressure them to not sign ballot initiative I-97.
Ballot initiative 97, if adopted, would require the Seattle Employees’ Retirement System to divest from any company that (1) participates directly in the occupation of Iraq; (2) is profiting from privatization of Iraqi state resources; (3) provides direct material support to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights; and (4) has a direct presence in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories listed above. It would also require divestment from Israeli government bonds if Israel carries out a military attack on Iran without UN authorization.
Supporters have already gathered more than thousands of signatures.
The so-called "fact sheet" being distributed by opponents includes several falsehoods, including:
- Claim: I-97 targets companies doing business in Israel.
- Fact: The language of the initiative only talks about companies that are directly participating in illegal occupations and says nothing about companies doing business within the internationally recognized boundaries of Israel.
- Claim: I-97 will affect companies like Microsoft.
- Fact: Microsoft has no direct participation in any of the illegal occupations in the Middle East, and is in no way affected by this initiative.
- Claim: Campaign volunteers mention only Iraq in order to collect signatures.
- Fact: The campaign web site and all press releases, as well as volunteer instructions make it very clear that this initiative covers all illegal occupations, and that volunteers should make this fact clear to Seattle voters as they collect signatures.
As Seattle Post Intelligencer columnist D. Parvaz pointed out in her July 19, 2008 column:
Contrary to what I-97 opponents would have you believe, this isn't a move against Israel's right to statehood -- it's a statement against illegal settlements in the occupied lands. (source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/parvaz/371363_parvaz19.html)
Campaign spokesperson Judith Kolokoff says, "Instead of trying to stifle debate by keeping I-97 off the ballot, opponents should make their case to the general public at election time. Let's have a healthy debate about the issues raised by this initiative. I-97 targets only those American companies that profit from illegal war and occupation."
The opponents' flyer also uses half-truths to confuse the public. For example, it lists only a small subset of the campaign's endorsers, leaving out all of the antiwar organizations in Seattle, including Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW Coalition), Veterans for Peace, ANSWER Coalition, and important antiwar leaders like Cindy Sheehan, without mentioning that this is a partial list of endorsers.
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More Information:
Seattle Divest From War
http://www.divestfromwar.org
media@divestfromwar.org
(206) 299-4186
