[Peace-discuss] Center for Constitutional Rights: Victory: Major settlement in case of professor fired over tweets

[Robert Naiman]

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From: Center for Constitutional Rights <alerts at ccrjustice.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 12, 2015 at 5:54 PM
Subject: Victory: Major settlement in case of professor fired over tweets
To: Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>


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<http://ccrjustice.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2067&qid=2310176>

Dear CCR Supporter,

Great news! Our client Professor Steven Salaita has reached a settlement
<http://ccrjustice.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2068&qid=2310176>
in his case against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
for firing him from a tenured position over his personal tweets criticizing
the Israeli government’s assault on Gaza in 2014—tweets the UIUC called
“uncivil.”  Salaita’s firing became a flashpoint for debates over academic
freedom, free speech, and the repression of Palestinian rights advocacy. In
exchange for Professor Salaita’s agreement to release his claims, the
university has agreed to pay $875,000.

Freedom of Information Act requests revealed that donors had threatened to
withhold funding to UIUC if Salaita was not fired and that administrators,
including the UIUC Chancellor, had used personal email accounts and deleted
emails in order to conceal and destroy evidence relevant to the case.  In
August, a federal judge rejected UIUC’s attempt to dismiss the case
<http://ccrjustice.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2069&qid=2310176>,
writing that “[i]f the Court accepted the University’s argument, the entire
American academic hiring process as it now operates would cease to exist.”
Within hours of the court’s decision, the UIUC chancellor resigned.

Today’s settlement not only vindicates Professor Salaita—it is also a
victory for First Amendment protections for advocacy.  Activism in support
of Palestinian freedom has been subject to increasing repression; Professor
Salaita’s firing is just one example
<http://ccrjustice.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2070&qid=2310176>.
CCR remains committed to standing in solidarity with Palestine—a stance we
are only able to take because of your support
<http://ccrjustice.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2071&qid=2310176>!
Thank you for standing with us.
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