Iran Task Force

Sherry A. Weinman, past Regional President and member of AJC’s national Executive Committee, chairs the Iran Task Force for AJC Los Angeles. 

For more information, please contact Hanna Dershowitz, Assistant Director, Public Policy
at (310) 282-8080 x327 or dershowitzh@ajc.org.

Iran Camaign Advocacy Training Begins

AJC Los Angeles held an Iran Advocacy Campaign Training Session on January 12, 2012. Twenty-seven lay leaders and nine staff members gathered to learn about AJC’s Iran campaign and to prepare for the various advocacy tracks encompassed by the campaign—international, legislative/policy, and intergroup.

The meeting covered a wide range of issues, including the efficacy of sanctions; how to convey to outside interlocutors the fact that Iran is a world concern, not only a Jewish or Israel issue; and what “all options on the table” means. The group heard from various speakers, including Aaron Jacob, AJC’s Associate Director of International Affairs at the Office of Government and International Affairs (via video); Board of Governors member and Chair of the AJC-LA Iran Task Force Sherry Weinman; and AJC member Reeve Chudd.

The training session also included a protocol briefing, incorporating diplomatic protocol and lobbying tips, by regional Board of Directors and Board of Governors member Dr. Marlene Bane. Attendees learned from Dr. Saba Soomekh, an active regional AJC and ACCESS member and professor at the Religious Studies department at Loyola Marymount University specializing in Iran, who led a wide-ranging Q&A session that satisfied many members’ curiosity about the origins of the religious conflicts in Iran and elsewhere in the region. Attendees had a chance to practice what they learned during a role-playing exercise using questions crafted to raise important and difficult questions. The sophistication of the AJC leaders, armed with amplified knowledge of AJC’s positions on Iran, was amply evidenced by the discussions after the role-play exercise.

Iran Task Force Off and Running

Dozens of AJC members gathered for the inaugural meeting of the LA region’s Iran Task Force on Monday, November 7, 2011. The task force will work on three tracks—advocacy, education, and engagement—to help curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The group enjoyed an informative and thought-provoking briefing by guest speaker and scholar Dr. Dalia Dassa Kaye of RAND and UCLA.

 The Task Force is supporting advocacy efforts in states near and far to replicate the California model legislation preventing state contracts with significant investors in Iran’s energy sector.

For education, the group is excited about engaging with unusual partners to broaden the coalition and produce creative social media messages. In addition, the task force plans to emphasize the human rights abuses taking place in Iran.

The task force also arranged for Access member Saba Jahanian to speak at the Chanukah party about her personal story as a child in Iran as part of our efforts to educate AJC’s partners about the issue.

Nationwide Call Urging State Sanctions Bills Modeled on California’s Iran Contracting Act of 2010

Staff and lay leaders from AJC’s 26 regional offices participated in a legislative advocacy webinar November 17, 2011 outlining how states can initiate targeted sanctions against Iran to impede its nuclear weapons program. California Assemblymembers Bob Blumenfield and Mike Feuer, legislative champions and national leaders on the issue, participated to explain the law they co-authored that gives the state of California a mandate to reject business contracts with companies that are large investors in Iran’s energy sector. The legislative structure created for these sanctions can be replicated in every state in the country and will have a significant impact in the aggregate.

Currently, 23 states have passed or implemented some form of divestment of state funds from Iranian entities; however, only California and Florida have adopted wide-ranging sanctions pursuant to federal authority. With the recent release of a new IAEA report, which unequivocally says that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, it is the perfect time for AJC’s regional offices to engage on this important, nationwide campaign. AJC is creating a comprehensive, turn-key campaign for the regional offices to use to promote these targeted sanctions bills.