A12 Backgrounder: Israel and the City & County of Denver

A12 Backgrounder: Israel and the City & County of Denver

[Why we are starting the A12 march at the City & County Building]

The Colorado-Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is a small affair, composed of some twelve members. However, what caught my attention is that one of those members is the Denver Mayor’s Office of Economic Development & International Trade.

The CICC’s purpose is rather direct (excerpts):

· “To help Israel create jobs, build its economic base, and achieve its objectives of investment growth, infrastructure development, and economic self-sufficiency.

· To help Colorado businesses identify development and investment opportunities in Israel.

· To provide networking resources for Colorado businesses seeking to establish a presence in Israel.” (CICC)

Among its initiatives has been a May 2006 trade mission to Israel and apparently they have an interest in promoting the outsourcing of Colorado jobs in that two of the five news articles on the homepage focus on outsourcing resources. In that they are trying to encourage Colorado businesses to invest in Israel, they have a vested interest in Hasbara (Israeli propaganda), so of course there is a link to the “good news” (meaning they simply ignore all the ‘unpleasantness’ and pretend as though everything is wonderful) website: http://www.israel21c.com/ The central point of contact appears to be Julie Rubin, who is both on CICC’s Board of Directors as well as an international trade specialist with the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. (“New Colorado-Israel council forges economic strategy” Denver Business Journal)

ness' simply ignore all the 'e is a link to link on the homo invest in Israel, they have a vested interest in Hasbara

Those of you that were involved in the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace (CCMEP, http://www.ccmep.org/) are probably not surprised that Mayor Hickenlooper has reached out to Israel. During his run for office it became known that an organization that he co-founded – the Chinook Fund – had given money to the “rabidly anti-Israel” (Andrea Jacobs, “Hickenlooper denies anti-Israel accusation; affirms his support” Intermountain Jewish News) CCMEP. His comments on the topic were rather to the point: “I went on their website [CCMEP’s] and saw they were calling for the US to cut all its funding to Israel. That's absolutely crazy,” and that Israel “is an inextinguishable beacon of democracy within a troubled region, an important US ally and the spiritual home for the Jewish people.” (Andrea Jacobs, op. cit.)

Since that time, Hickenlooper has been very active in pro-Israel events, including:

Ø January 10, 2006 – Mayor Hickenlooper was the intro speaker at Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East’s dinner in honor of Jordan Perlmutter whose keynote speaker was Daniel Ayalon, Ambassador of Israel to the United States.

Ø June 2005 - Mayor Hickenlooper participated in the “Walk for Israel” demonstration and fund raiser (Allied Jewish Federation “Over a Thousand Turn Out at Federation's Israel Walk and Festival” )

Ø April 29, 2004 – The Denver chapter of the American Jewish Committee’s “National Human Relations Award Dinner” was held in honor of Mayor Hickenlooper.

Ø October 29-31, 2003 – Over a three day cycle of meetings between the Colorado-Israel Economic Development Council (the parent of the CICC), reinforced by Zvi Vapni, deputy consul general of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and Doron Abrahami, Israel's council for economic affairs, Hickenlooper was an active participant. Other local political leaders that participated included Rep. Bob Beauprez. (“New Colorado-Israel council forges economic strategy” Denver Business Journal)

So the point is that we cannot expect real sympathy from Hickenlooper to end his office’s formal association with the Colorado-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Nevertheless, we can protest this association and demand that Denver stop supporting pro-Israel initiatives – like CICC – until Israel complies with its legal obligations regarding its mass murder campaign in Lebanon and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This makes gathering at the City & County building appropriate and not merely coincidental.

The Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce is located in Denver, the heart of Colorado. For any information concerning business opportunities, or membership applications, please contact Michele Bartlett, Executive Director, by phone at (303)-761-3596 or fax (303)-761-3635, or by email: Michele@ coloradoisrael.org. Our mailing address is PO Box 5371, Englewood, CO 80155