Jewish Group Files Shareholder Resolution Asking Caterpillar to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Violations Jewish Voice for Peace November 22, 2004 California-based Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) announced today that it has filed a shareholder resolution requesting Caterpillar,Inc. to review whether the sale of its equipment to the Israeli army violates the corporation’s own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct. This move comes on the heels of a release by Human Rights Watch of a letter calling on Caterpillar, Inc. to "cease all sales of the D-9 to the Israeli army."
US bulldozer firm in Mid-East row BBC News June 14, 2004 A leading UN official has warned US manufacturer Caterpillar that it may be complicit in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Caterpillar under fire by Selena Maranjian (TMF Selena) , Motley Fool May 17, 2004 Social responsibility activists and shareholders have recently been urging the company to change its ways -- but they're not talking about pollution, labor conditions or animal testing. No, nothing like that. They're concerned because the company's bulldozers are being used by the Israeli army to raze Palestinian homes. (It was also a Caterpillar bulldozer that crushed 23-year-old American protester Rachel Corrie in Gaza in 2003.)
Inching Out of the Corporate Cocoon by Liat Weingart and Cecilie Surasky, SojoNet April 21, 2004 Article from Sojourners, a Christian ministry that seeks to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice. As the article points out, Caterpillar doesn't deny that their bulldozers have been used to violate human rights. No one does. What CAT denies is responsibility for how their bulldozers are used by claiming they don't have the legal right to police the individual use of their equipment. Activists disagree. They point out that Caterpillar bulldozers are explicitly sold to the Israeli government through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program - as weapons of war. In answering the question of corporate complicity in the violation of human rights, JVP looks back to a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court that made a groundbreaking decision in the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. The company that is producing the weapons that make wanton destruction possible are equally, if not more, responsible for the crime.
Speeches to Caterpillar Shareholders April 14, 2004 Speeches delivered to Caterpillar shareholders at the 2004 annual shareholder meeting by Liat Weingart of Jewish Voice for Peace and Mary Ann McGivern of the Sisters of Loretto.
Destruction of Palestinian Homes by Caterpillar Bulldozers Violates Conditions of U.S.-Backed Roadmap and International Laws September 25, 2003 As the Bush Administration moves to cut financing for Israel's settlements, the largest grassroots Jewish peace group in the U.S. announced today that it is targeting Illinois-based Caterpillar Corporation for its role in diminishing the chances for Middle East peace. Caterpillar has knowingly allowed its bulldozers to be used by the Israeli military for the demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes, settlement construction, and the building of Israel's Wall.
Should Corporations Care? The Caterpillar Conundrum by Charmaine Stanley, Shout Monthly June 1, 2002 What are the responsibilities of corporations in conflict zones? The sale of bulldozers to any government would not ordinarily raise eyebrows. Unlike tanks or bombs, a bulldozer seems a relatively innocuous - if powerful - machine which might be used for any number of productive civilian purposes. In Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, however, these machines have been used to carry out housing demolitions that achieve Israeli strategic and demographic objectives while violating the human rights of Palestinians and further eroding the peace process.
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