By Mark Guari** CHICAGO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - A Professor who lost out on a tenured position at the University of Illi**is after he made Twitter postings critical of Israel claimed in a lawsuit on Thursday that the University violated his rights to free speech under the U.S. Constitution. Steven Salaita said in his lawsuit that University do**rs pressured trustees to withdraw their offer of a tenured position due to public criticisms he made about Israeli military strikes in Gaza. Salaita, 39, left a tenured position at Virginia Tech to take the job in Illi**is and the withdrawal of the offer has harmed his reputation and caused him eco**mic hardship, the federal lawsuit filed in Chicago said. He is seeking reinstatement of the position as an indige**us studies Professor in the American Indian Studies program at the University of Illi**is campus in Urbana-Champaign and money.