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Thursday, April 12, 2012

BDS fail in Minnesota

From the Minnesota Post:
Ramsey County Judge Margaret Marrinan has dismissed a lawsuit that called for the state of Minnesota to sell the $18 million in Israeli bonds held in the state's portfolio.

Four groups and 23 individuals filed the lawsuit in 2011, claiming that the bonds were supporting settlements in Palestine and other activities in the West Bank that had been deemed illegal under international law.

They also claimed that Minnesota law does not allow investments in foreign countries other than Canada.

Marrinan threw out the suit, ruling that the plaintiffs do not have standing to file the lawsuit, and said that "the authority to make social, political and economic policy decisions of the kind Plaintiffs complain about in this case resides with the Legislature and the SBI [State Board of Investment], not this Court."

Even if the plaintiffs did have standing, the judge said Minnesota law does allow the State Board of Investment to purchase international securities.
Someone should really do a survey to see what percentage of BDS initiatives get anywhere. It appears to be in the low single-digits.

Unfortunately, the webpage of the Minnesota BDSers who devoted so many futile hours on publicizing their hate of the Jewish state has not yet been updated with the news of their latest failure.

(h/t The Jewish Press)