Wednesday, April 13, 2005 -- Day of Action Against CaterpillarStop Caterpillar from selling home-crushing bulldozers to Israel

Add Your Event View Events in Your Area Get Our Action Handbook Sign the Declaration Against Caterpillar Human Rights Abuses Action Flyer (B&W), Action Flyer (color) Additional B&W Flyer Talking Points On April 13, join groups all over the world in opposing Caterpillar sales of home-crushing bulldozers to Israel. That day, Caterpillar shareholders will meet in Chicago and will discuss a resolution on sales of bulldozers to Israel. We're calling on groups to organize local demonstrations at CAT-related locations, such as board of directors' offices or CAT dealerships, to send a strong message that cooperation in human rights abuses is unacceptable. (Click to download a 165k pdf file listing Caterpillar's dealerships and directors' offices in the U.S.) Over 50,000 Palestinians have been made homeless by Caterpillar bulldozers. CAT supplies equipment used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes, infrastructure, orchards, greenhouses, agricultural land filled with crops and sometimes lives, including American peace activist Rachel Corrie and Palestinian Suha Sweidan, who was nine months pregnant when she was killed in the middle of the night in a home demolition. While US taxpayers foot the bill, CAT profits from the wholesale destruction of Palestinian homes and livelihoods. Taking what Human Rights Watch calls a "head in the sand" approach, Caterpillar officials have repeated the same line over and over again, that Caterpillar has "neither the legal right nor the ability to monitor and police individual use" of its equipment. Last year, instead of looking into the wanton destruction that their company's policies cause, the Caterpillar Board of Directors successfully urged the defeat of a shareholder resolution investigating whether Caterpillar is adhering to its own corporate code of conduct regarding sales to Israel. Caterpillar not only has the ability to monitor the use of its equipment, but after calls from human rights organizations, members of the office of the UN Commissioner on Human Rights, several religious and social justice organizations, and the victims themselves, CAT has the responsibility to investigate the ethics of selling bulldozers as weapons and profiting from human rights abuses. Join us on April 13 in opposing CAT's harmful policies. HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO: * Organize an Action Join other groups all over the world on April 13 to organize a demonstration at a Caterpillar-related location in your area, such as a CAT dealership or board member's office. Soon, we'll post locations of CAT dealerships on CATdestroysHomes.org, and we'll provide you with resources to help you make it happen. Email abuemma@gmail.com if you'd like to organize an action in your area. * Contact Congress Contact your Congressional representative, tell her/him to ask for an investigation of US purchase of CAT equipment for Israel in the General Accounting Office. CAT equipment is sold to Israel under the US Foreign Military Sales Program. It's illegal for US-purchased equipment to be used to violate human rights. Make appointments with your representatives on the week of April 13, and tell her/him to investigate. To get in contact with a person in your area who can help you coordinate a visit to your rep, go to http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=89 and click on your state. GROUPS INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN: Groups all over the world have gotten involved in demanding that Caterpillar stop selling home-crushing bulldozers to Israel. Below is a partial list of those groups -- not all of them are involved in the Day of Action, but all of them have contributed to the campaign. Al-Awda American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee American Friends Service Committee Amnesty International BootCAT.org Bradley Peace Network Christian Peacemaker Teams Churches for Middle East Peace Committee for Justice in Palestine, Ohio State University Human Rights Watch International Solidarity Movement Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Jewish Voice for Peace Maryknoll Sisters National Lawyers Guild Not In My Name Palestine Solidarity Group Palestine Solidarity Movement Peace Pledge Peoria Area Peace Network Presbyterian Church USA ProgressivePortal.org Sisters of Loretto Sisters of Mercy St. Francis of Philadelphia StopCAT Coalition Students for Justice in Palestine Students for Social Justice SUSTAIN (Stop US Tax Funded Aid to Israel Now) Tikkun Community UN Special Rapporteur on Food Rights, Jean Ziegler US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation