Israel Bond Purchase Letter of Protest 4/14/09

In March of 2009, the Illinois State Treasurer, Mr. Alexi Giannoulias purchased $10 million of Israeli bonds for the State of Illinois. The Steering Committee believe that such bond purchases directly and indirectly support practices and policies of the Israeli government's that are violations of international law, are against the expectations expressed by the highest levels of U.S. government officials, ignore property rights that are bedrock U.S. values and fail to treat Palestinians with the dignity and respect that the Abrahamic faiths expect since we are all made in the image of God. Based on our convictions, we wrote a letter to Mr. Giannoulias and asked that these Israeli bonds be divested. A copy of the letter is here.

We have since copied Illinois State Senator Jeff Schoenberg and have followed up with the Illinois State Treasurer's office. In the coming weeks, we will schedule appointments with Mr. Giannoulias and Senator Schoenberg to discuss this matter face-to-face. As developments occur, we will add updates about this advocacy initiative on this page of the website. If you have questions or comments about this project, please contact Newland Smith.