An initiative that calls on the city of Seattle to divest from corporations making profits from the occupations of Iraq and Palestine is being challenged in the courts. Two separate groups--the Washington Israel Business Council and a local chapter of the organization StandWithUs.org--are trying to block a campaign to pass I-97. Both organizations have filed challenges to the initiative in King County Superior Court. The proposed ballot measure would instruct the City of Seattle to pull its employee's retirement fund investments out of any companies that are doing business providing support for the US occupation of Iraq. The initiative also calls on the city to withdraw any investments in corporations providing material support to the government of Israel. Initiative 97 is sponsored by a group called Seattle Divestment From War And Occupation. Activists for the organization say the campaign was formed as a result of mass anti-war marches and letter-writing campaigns that seemed ineffective in stopping the war and occupation in Iraq. They describe themselves as "desperate citizens" who are frustrated by the lack of organized political opposition to illegal occupations they say the US and Israel are conducting in the Middle East. Spokespersons for the Washington Israel Business Council and StandWithUs.org say they are opposed to the proposal. They claim Initiative 97 as currently written is deceptive because, to the average petition signer, it seems to be limited to a simple anti-war resolution.  They say there are two main objections to the initiative as proposed. Their first legal challenge comes from their claim that the initiative's official title is too long. They say it actually exceeds the limit set by law. They also state in their petition to the King County Superior Court that the proposal violates the Washington State Constitution's requirement that initiatives cover only one topic at a time. --Mark Taylor-Canfield