Chicago, IL- On Monday, September 22, over 60 Illinois activists and the Illinois Divest From Genocide Network, which is made up of over 50 organizations, protested at the rescheduled Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI) meeting to oppose the board and Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerich’s continued investment in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Illinois stand against genocide
The action began with a press conference outside of ISBI’s downtown office. As Anti-War Committee – Chicago (AWC) co-chair Jae Franklin put it, “We are here today to call ISBI out on each of these investments and demand they immediately divest from all companies that are facilitating, aiding, and abetting the genocide and occupation of Palestine.”
Franklin added, “They are scared of what we have to say. In addition to rescheduling, they gave us one slot of public comment, as opposed to five last time. But they have no idea how hard we will fight, how steadfast we can be, and how united Illinois is in our demands for divestment from genocide. We will continue to show up, to protest, and to pack their public comment, until every last public dollar ISBI manages is divested from the genocidal state of Israel!”
Husam Marajda from the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) declared the ISBI meeting rescheduling a “small victory for our movement.”
Outside during the press conference and later during the meeting the protest repeated the chant “ISBI ISBI, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today!”
Inside the meeting, activists flooded the public comment section. ISBI leadership was forced to confront their complicity in genocide for 20 minutes as activists from across the movement explained the bloody effects of their investment in companies like Caterpillar, Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin, in addition to investments in Israeli bonds.
Marajda again spoke to the board during this public comment section, stating, “This board has to answer and has to act on what the people of Illinois want. The people of Illinois do not want their tax dollars to be invested in companies that are doing business with the state of Israel and committing genocide.”
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political repression (CAARPR) organizer Tulsi McDaniels reiterated this when telling the board, “I am disgusted that this board would choose to postpone this meeting in order to evade accountability for investing in murder and slaughter.”
At the end of the public comment period, Zhenya Polozova of AWC hand-delivered a petition for divestment from the apartheid state of Israel signed by over 3000 concerned Illinois residents.
ISBI investments include Caterpillar, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. Caterpillar has provided bulldozers directly to Israel to illegally demolish civilian infrastructure in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. They also infamously ran over and killed activist and U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie who was attempting to stop a demolition. Northrop Grumman supplies missiles to the Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF) Air Force and is well known for providing the fighter jets that intercepted and killed the passengers aboard the Turkish Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010. Lastly, Lockheed Martin is one of the biggest suppliers of the Israeli Airforce, providing numerous fighter jets and bombs that have been used in countless bombings of civilian infrastructure during the current genocide.
Sign on to the letter demanding Illinois divest from the genocide in Gaza
The action was successful in ensuring that ISBI will not be able to feign ignorance to their complacency. They know what their constituents think of them. Come out on December 19 to protest ISBI’s complicity again at their next quarterly meeting.
For any updates on the campaign and actions that will be organized in the meanwhile follow @antiwarchicago, @bdschicago, and @USPCN on instagram. Sign on to the letter as an individual or endorse as an organization and join the divestment network.
#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine
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