The seven-member board of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Sept. 8 unanimously approved a resolution in support of a newly drafted federal bill that would prohibit the U.S. government from contracting with telecommunications companies that work with the Iranian regime. While only symbolic in nature, the resolution was California’s first school board resolution related to Iran. It was drafted by board member Tamar Galatzan, who is Jewish, and is intended to send a message to federal policymakers and to corporations doing business with the Iranian government.
“Sponsoring a resolution like this, while just a little thing, shows companies in the telecommunications industry that they are going to have to make a clear choice and choose whether they want to do business with the government of the United States or with a terrorist-sponsoring state like Iran,” Galatzan said. The proposed federal bill, titled the “Reduce Iranian Cyber-Suppression Act,” would prohibit the U.S. government from entering into or renewing contracts with corporations that export certain computer and telecommunications technologies to Iran.
Before a final vote on the resolution, David Peyman and Sam Yebri, two members of the board of 30 Years After, an L.A.-based nonprofit promoting the participation of Iranian Jews in political, civic and Jewish life, addressed the LAUSD board in support of the resolution.
