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The High Cost of Boycotting Israel
(Chicago Tribune) Jay Tcath - A recent Tribune editorial correctly applauds the Illinois legislature for having divested pension funds from companies doing business with Sudan (for its genocide in Darfur) or with Iran (for its illicit nuclear program). The General Assembly has passed a bill to synchronize our state's investment policies with our values: divesting from foreign companies boycotting Israel. Illinois will be the first state to compel foreign boycotters to make a choice: You are free to profit from our investment dollars. You are also free to boycott Israel. But in this state you will no longer be free to do both. If you choose the boycott avenue, we are free to cash in our investment. You - the foreign company - do not have U.S. or Illinois constitutional rights to our discretionary investment dollars. The writer is executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.