ACTION ALERT – CALLS Needed to Counter Attack on Academic Freedom in Illinois General Assembly

At 4 pm on Tuesday, April 1st the IL State Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to have a hearing on the toxic anti-boycott RESOLUTION introduced by Sen. Ira Silverstein,SJR 59.

Many of you have responded to previous calls for action on this and other attacks on academic freedom.  To defeat this resolution, we need your help now!

We urge Illinois residents to make calls to members of the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee on the mornings of Monday, March 31st and Tuesday, April 1st, to oppose the resolution.  

Here are several talking points:

I ask the Senator to vote NO on Senate Resolution SJR 59.  The Illinois General Assembly should not

• call on college and university administrators to condemn the use of ALL academic boycotts – potentially limiting the ways that faculty can advocate on issues of public concern and ostracizing those that choose this tactic

• support unconstitutional actions that limit constitutionally protected speech and association  (See ACLU opposition to resolution at www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1500)

• characterize supporters of academic boycotts of Israel as anti-Semitic – without a shred of evidence and despite the fact that many supporters of the academic boycott of Israel are Jewish and see it as a legitimate tool to confront Israeli human rights violations.

1) If you are a constituent of any of the Judiciary Committee senators below, please call his or her office and identify yourself as a constituent. If you don’t know who your State Senator is, go to this link and type your address to find out: ://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx

2) Otherwise, call the chair and vice-chair of the committee and identify your affiliation (college or university, civil liberties, peace organization, concerned citizen etc.).

3) If you have time, call the resolution’s sponsor, Ira Silverstein, who is on the committee.

Committee Members

• Chair Kwame Raoul 13th District (217) 782 – 5338or [email protected].us if the phone is busy.
• Vice-Chair John Mulroe 10th District(217) 782 – 3810
• Member William R. Haine – 56th District – (217) 782 – 5247
• Member Don Harmon – 39th District –(217) 782 – 8176
• Member Michael Hastings – 19th District – (217) 782 – 9595
• Member Toi Hutchinson – 40th District – (217) 782 – 7419
• Member Michael Noland – 22nd District – (217) 782 – 7746
• Member Ira Silverstein – 8th District –(217) 782 – 5500 (sponsor of resolution)
• Minority Spokesperson Kirk Dillard – 24th District – (217) 782- 8148
• Member Jason Barickman – 53rd District – (217) 782 – 6597
• Member Darin LaHood – 37th District – (217) 782 – 1942
• Member Dale Righter – 55th District –(217) 782 – 6647

THANK YOU for taking action! Our organized response can help prevent this resolution from moving forward!

The Illinois Coalition to Protect Academic Freedom and Free Speech was formed in response to anti-boycott legislation introduced in the Illinois State Senate.  The Coalition includes the Center for Constitutional Rights, CAIR-Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, American Studies Association, Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Arab-Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Committee Against Political Repression, Friends of Sabeel: North America, United States Palestinian Community Network,  American Friends Service Committee- Chicago, Just Foreign Policy, Defending Dissent Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, UIC Graduate Employees Organization, IFT-AFT Local 6297,and other individuals.