Stop Caterpillar’s Destruction Of Palestinian Lives!

Since the beginning of the present Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the Israeli military has destroyed more than 2650 Palestinian homes, offices, buildings and other civilian structures including hundreds of thousands of fruit and olive trees, the main livelihood for many Palestinians.

The US industrial machinery giant, Caterpillar, is the main supplier of the specially designed bulldozers which the Israeli military uses to carry out this destruction. Such acts are a form of collective punishment and, therefore, considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and by the UN. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned recent home demolitions as war crimes.

We have called upon the Caterpillar Corporation to immediately halt all sales of equipment to the Israeli military. However, to date, they have not responded. Therefore we have decided to launch a national campaign to expose Caterpillar’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes and stop its sales to the Israeli military. We hope that you will join us in this campaign.

Little so vividly captures the brutality of the occupation like the bulldozing of homes by the Israeli military with Caterpillar equipment.  We believe that focusing this campaign against a US brand name company that is exporting machines used directly in attacks on civilians is likely to have a powerful effect on public opinion. Caterpillar's business with the Israeli military is only a small part of their world-wide business, and ending the supply of these “Killer Bulldozers” will not bankrupt them nor will it result in the loss of jobs for workers in the US.

For these reasons we believe, with your support, this is a winnable campaign.

Campaign Action Timeline

Wednesday, August 7: National and international press conferences to officially launch campaign. Main press conference will be at the National Press Building in Washington, DC.

Month of August: Escalate campaign, particularly as colleges and universities start up, with leafleting, postering, banner drops, and street theater outside of locations connected to Caterpillar in some way (plants, dealerships, offices, transport facilities). Continue to publicize the campaign, get more groups and individuals to endorse, start making props, puppets and banners, and organizing press conference(s) at the end of the month.

Saturday, September 14: National and international day of action against Caterpillar. The main target on the East Coast will be the Caterpillar plant in York, Pennsylvania. Click here to locate a storefront near you

September 25 – September 29: Organize national action targeting Caterpillar during the protests around the International Monetary Fund/World Bank

fall meetings in Washington, DC.

What can you  do?

Write, fax, email, call and, if possible, even visit a Caterpillar office, plant, dealership with the demands:

Glen Barton

Caterpillar Chairman and CEO

c/o Benjamin Cordani

Caterpillar Inc.

100 N.E. Adams St.

Peoria, Illinois 61629

cordani_benjamin_s@cat.com

(309) 675-1000

Publicize the campaign in your publications, mailings, listservs, websites, and at any public meetings;

Write letters to and put ads and/or public service announcements (PSAs) in your local paper, radio station, and public access TV stations about the campaign;

Organize regular leafleting, preferably with a banner and some street theater, at a Caterpillar related site and/or at any public area with a lot of traffic;

Hold a press conference on August 7th with other interested groups to announce the launching of the campaign;

Together with other groups, organize some type of action (picket, rally, civil disobedience/direct action) for the September 14 day of action. Let us

know the details of your action so we can help publicize it.

Organize people to come to Washington, DC on September 29 for a national action against Caterpillar and to mark the second anniversary of the intifada.

To endorse and/or if you have any questions or comments, you can either send a message to StopCAT@mutualaid.org or call us at 866 860 9311. We appreciate your support and look forward to working with you in the future.

SPONSORS: Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now (SUSTAIN), Free Palestine Alliance, Students for

Justice in Palestine, Berkeley

ENDORSERS: A Jewish Voice for Peace, American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee – San Francisco, Anti-war Anti-Racist Effort (AWARE), Austin

Divestment Initiative, Global Exchange, Houston Coalition for Justice Not War, ISM Northern California Support Group, Israeli Committee Against

House Demolitions (ICAHD), Jews Against the Occupation (JATO), Left Turn, Palestine Media Watch, QUIT (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism), SHOUT!

Magazine, San Francisco Women in Black, The Tikkun Community, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation