IL protesters brutalized for demanding Michael Frerichs divest from apartheid Israel

Chicago, IL – Over 60 protesters gathered on the frigid morning of Friday, December 19 outside of the Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI) quarterly meeting. Protesters demanded the board divest from all corporations complicit in Israel’s genocide and occupation against the Palestinian people, and that State Treasurer Michael Frerichs (ISBI’s vice chair) divest from Israel Bonds. 

This action marked the one-year anniversary of protests targeting ISBI and Frerichs co-led by Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC-Chicago) and BDS-Chicago—a project of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). In the last 12 months, the campaign has grown into a network of over 55 organizations throughout Illinois. 

“Illinois is one of the leading state governments in the U.S. in regards to supplying material support to Israel. The state of Illinois has $100 million actively invested in Israeli Bonds,” said Tulsi McDaniels from Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). “[Israel’s] 25 months of slaughter, of destruction, of violence has resulted in a man-made famine affecting over 2 million people in Gaza alone. The governing bodies of Illinois enable this by choosing to renew Israeli bonds.”

River Argyilan from the New Students for a Democratic Society at University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC) spoke to the board’s investments. Instead of investing Illinoisian public funds “in housing, healthcare and education, ISBI invests our money in war profiteers like Boeing, Cadre Holdings, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and Palantir, that directly benefit from bloodshed and genocide in Gaza. While Illinoisans live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to put food on the table, our government funds starvation overseas,” stated Argyilan.

Chanel Crittenden from AWC-Chicago stated, “ISBI has invested millions of dollars in private companies that aid and profit from the federal occupation, raiding and kidnappings of our neighbors. Companies like Motorola Solutions and Cadre Holdings have made a profit-building surveillance technologies and repression tools that have been used by the Israeli occupational forces to repress Palestinians and uphold their apartheid regime.”

After ISBI kept members of the public outside in the cold by delaying their meeting by over an hour, building security let 20 people in one by one, telling them to remove “political paraphernalia” such as keffiyehs and hats with pro-Palestinian or anti-police violence messaging. Over 40 members of the public were left outside the building, in freezing, 10 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, and were given no access to an overflow area or lobby. 

Once in the meeting room, Noura Ebrahim from BDS-Chicago handed board members research packets describing the complicity of their investments in genocide and attacks on our immigrant communities, including a photo of an empty Cadre Holdings tear gas canister left by ICE during Operation Midway Blitz. She then addressed the board stating, “We know divestment can happen because we have seen it. Michigan has divested from Israel bonds. Minnesota has divested from Israel Bonds. North Carolina has divested from Israel Bonds. What is the holdup, Illinois?”

At the end of public comment, six protesters peacefully linked arms and stated clearly that they would refuse to leave without a verbal confirmation from the board that they would divest. Not only did Illinois State Police violently drag them out of the room and the building, they also aggressively pushed, grabbed and shoved members of the public out of the building. Those people were simply attending the meeting and recording proceedings, which is a legally protected right under the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Husam Marajda from USPCN closed the rally, stating, that ISBI “escalated their oppression against us, and so we have to escalate our actions and our pressure. And so let’s make sure that they know, loud and clear, that we’ll be back! We’ll be back!” The crowd joined in the chant, turning their voices up toward the fifth floor of the building where the board members carried on with their meeting.

Sign the letter to divest!

Illinois residents can sign the letter as an individual or endorse as an organization to join the divestment network. For updates about the campaign and further calls to action regarding divestment, follow @uspcn, @bdschicago, and @antiwarchicago on Instagram.

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