Obama's Iran
expert never heard of anti-Israel BDS movement, 'It's troubling, sir, you wouldn't know what that is', by Garth
Kant, 5/27/16, WND
WASHINGTON – The
man the Obama administration picked to implement its nuclear deal with Iran has
displayed a shocking ignorance of Middle East politics.
The Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions, or BDS, movement is widely known as a tool used to wage economic
warfare against Israel. It is well known by everyone involved in the region, with
the apparent exception of Ambassador Stephen D. Mull, who was given the title
of lead coordinator for Iran nuclear implementation in September 2015.
That was the stunning
discovery made by a flabbergasted Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., during Wednesday’s
hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on implementation of the Iran
nuclear deal and its consequences.
Toward the end of
aggressive but routine questioning of the witnesses, Meadows asked Mull if the
State Department would advise all 50 states not to join the BDS attack “against
our ally, Israel?”
“I’m sorry Sir, what?
BDS movement? I’m not sure what that is,” replied a visibly confused Mull. “Boycott
… divestment …” spat out Meadows. “Um … Sir … our relations with …” a stumbling
Mull tried to explain.
But, Meadows cut him
off, interjecting, “It’s troubling, Sir, you wouldn’t know what that is.” The
congressman’s time for questioning then expired. A confused expression creased
Mull’s face as he shrugged his shoulders in response.
See
the full video of Meadow’s questioning of witnesses: Meadows was also floored
by what he described as a “pro-Iranian marketing letter” sent by Mull to all 50
state governors asking them to do more business with the terrorist-sponsoring
nation of Iran.
The congressman produced
a copy of an April 8 letter (see the
letter in full, below) from Mull to Governor Pat McCrory, R-N.C., requesting that the State of North Carolina “revisit and lift laws and
policies that divest state funds from Iran and block state and local
governments from denying contracts to businesses with ties to Iran.”
According to the
governor’s website, “Last year, McCrory signed the bipartisan Iran Divestment
Act of 2015, which prohibited the N.C. Retirement System, state agencies and
local governments from using funds to invest in Iran or contracting with
businesses that have investment ties to Iran.” It also says, “According to
Bloomberg News, more than two dozen states have state divestment laws targeting
Iran.”
“I’ve got a letter
here,” Meadows told Mull, while waving a copy, “that went to Gov. Pat McCrory,
from you, which, by many descriptions, is pro-Iranian marketing material
suggesting we ought to do more business with Iran.”
The letter asked the
governor to review how his state could do more business with Iran while staying
in compliance with sanctions, but McCrory said he didn’t have that expertise,
so he asked Meadows to look at it.
“Why would you send a pro-Iranian
marketing letter to my governor?” wondered Meadows.
When a
bewildered-looking Mull haltingly tried to respond, Meadows added, “Who
instructed you to do that?”
The ambassador managed
to reply, “With respect, I disagree that it’s a pro-Iranian marketing letter.” “Well,
some have described it that way,” Meadows countered, adding, “You can disagree.
So, we’ll disagree on that. But who asked you to do that?”
“In the agreement, the
United States government committed to inform states and local authorities about
changes in the nuclear situation in Iran.” began the ambassador. Meadows, incredulous,
cut him off, asking, “So, you sent a letter like this to all 50 states?”
“That’s right,” replied
Mull, “because the United States government committed to do that.”
Meadows remarked that,
in doing that, Mull went to great lengths to try to sell the governor on doing
business with Iran rather than “just saying you need to look at changing your
laws” on existing sanctions against doing business with the terrorism-sponsoring
regime.
“Why was it [written] in
such a pro-Iranian manner?” demanded the congressman. Mull disagreed with that,
again, prompting Meadows to respond he would give the letter to the press and
let them decide whether it was pro-Iranian. The congressman asked the
ambassador if he had released it to the press, and he said he had not.
Even while tacitly
encouraging states to do business with Islamic Republic, the letter admits that
the United States “continues to have significant concerns with Iran’s other
activities that harm our interests, such as its support for terrorism, its
human rights abuses, its destabilizing activities in the region, and its
activities related to ballistic missiles.”
Before Mull was
appointed to his current post, Politico
reported some observers were disappointed with his selection, believing the
enormously complex task of making sure Iran complied with the nuclear deal
required a well-known “heavy-hitter.”
Meadow’s incredulity at
Mull’s lack of familiarity with the BDS movement stems from the fact it is so
widespread in Europe and so ubiquitous on college campuses across America,
where it seeks to persuade students to view Israel as an enemy and oppressor.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, the number of students actively working to promote
the BDS campaign against Israel increased last year.
Nineteen campuses
held votes on BDS resolutions or referenda in the 2014-15 academic year.
Programs like “Israeli
Apartheid Week” and “Palestine Awareness Week” grew less popular over the past
year, but there was a significant increase in anti-Israel events overall.
The ADL reported, “520
explicitly anti-Israel events and programs took place nationwide on college
campuses, representing a 30% increase from the previous academic year. Well
over 50% of these events focused various aspects of the BDS movement.”
In a landmark court decision this week, a Spanish constitutional tribunal ruled that a
local government motion calling for a boycott against Israel violated
anti-discrimination provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Israeli analyst Judith
Bergman believes that could even trigger the doom of the entire BDS movement on
the continent because the European Convention on Human Rights “is largely held
in higher esteem than the Bible.”
The municipality of
Gijon had declared itself “a space free of Israeli apartheid” in a motion
passed in January, which said the city would not pay for services of firms
implicated in “human rights violations” in Palestinian territories, and that
the city supported the BDS movement.
But the judges on the
panel of a Spanish administrative court said the objectives of Gijon’s boycott
would “jeopardize the fundamental right to equality without discrimination on
the bases of appearance, ethnicity and religion.”
The Spanish government
is opposed to BDS, as is Britain’s ruling party. France outlawed BDS as
discriminatory. But anti-Israeli sentiment could be gaining momentum with the
recent, rapid infusion of an ever-increasing Muslim population into Europe.
Bergman says the Spanish
ruling opens an avenue to stop BDS once and for all.
“What is needed is a
final judicial ruling on the utter illegality and incompatibility with human
rights legislation from the highest authority on this issue in Europe, namely
the European Court of Human Rights,” she wrote.
Bergman noted that
individuals can take cases alleging violations of the civil and political
rights directly to the court, based in Strasbourg, and that its rulings are
binding.
In the scenario she
evoked, the right attorney bringing the right case could result in “literally
outlawing the movement across the European continent in one sweep with an
authoritative ruling that would render the BDS movement’s purpose and actions
in contravention of the European Convention of Human Rights.”
Bergman concluded, “It
is a venue that must be explored as a means to shutting the BDS down and
officially exposing it, on European soil, as the racist and illegal movement
that it is, and the very antithesis of everything for which the European
Convention on Human Rights stands.”
Read
the full copy of the April 8, 2015 letter from Mull to Gov. Pat McCrory,
R-N.C. requesting that the State of
North Carolina revisit and lift laws and policies that divest state funds from
Iran and block state and local governments from denying contracts to businesses
with ties to Iran:
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