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Wednesday, June 14, 2006: National Day of Action Against Caterpillar
STOP CATERPILLAR FROM SELLING
HOME-CRUSHING BULLDOZERS TO ISRAEL
Join an Informational Vigil in the Kansas
City area
Wednesday, June 14 at 5:00 pm
at Sen. Sam Brownback's office
11111 West 95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas
Directions | Event Flyer |
Feedback Form
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Kansas City area peace groups are planning to observe the
National Day of Action Against Caterpillar which is scheduled for Wednesday,
June 14, 5:00 p.m. at Sen. Sam Brownback's Overland Park office, 11111 West
95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas.
Did you know that 50,000 Palestinians have been made homeless by Caterpillar
bulldozers since 1967?
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click here for...
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 Over
3,000 Palestinian homes since 2000 alone have been destroyed 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. |
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Here's how to get involved in local
action:
1. Attend the Informational Vigil on Wednesday,
June 14, 5:00 p.m. at Sen. Sam Brownback's Overland Park office, 11111
West 95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas. Bring a sign to the
vigil pointing out violations of US and international law. Sponsors include:
- Citizens
for Justice in the Middle East
- Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation--Kansas City Chapter
2. Contact the local news media about the practices of
home demolitions and Caterpillar's role.
3. Call, visit or write to your U.S. congressional representatives and
senators.
Senator Sam Brownback (Kansas)
Local Phone: 913-492-6378
DC Phone: 202-224-6521
Senator Jim Talent (Missouri)
Local Phone: 816-421-1639
DC Phone: 202-224-6154
4. Endorse the declaration and the local action on
June 14
http://www.catdestroyshomes.org/index.php
5. Print and post the event flyer in public spaces
such as libraries, colleges, churches and coffeeshops -
Event Flyer (Adobe PDF format)
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Questions about the Caterpillar
campaign:
 | Question: Why are we supporting a campaign against
Caterpillar?
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| Answer: We are focusing attention on Caterpillar
because bulldozer sales to Israel violates the U.S. Arms Export Act.
Specifically, CAT bulldozers have been used to destroy thousands of
Palestinian homes with significant damage to farmland and
businesses.
Caterpillar, while not the only company profiting from the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian territory, is one of the largest U.S.
companies in the world. Stopping these bulldozer sales will not have
a negative impact on this company's overall revenue or profits. The
halt to the bulldozer sales would send a strong message that
corporations and U.S. citizens place a value on respect for human
rights.
The sale of the Caterpillar bulldozers to the Israeli army
contradicts Caterpillar's own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct,
which states that "Caterpillar accepts the responsibilities of
global citizenship" and recognizes that Caterpillar's "commitment to
financial success must also take into account social, economic,
political, and environmental priorities."
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| Question: Did Israel announce a halt to home
demolitions? |
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Answer: Israel gives three reasons for home
demolitions -- lack of building permit, military purposes and
punitive. All three reasons have been widely condemned by the UN,
individual nations and human rights organizations such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem and the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights.
In 2005, Israel announced a halt to punitive home demolitions against
Palestinian attackers such as suicide bombers. This represents about
5% of the 12,000 homes demolished since 1967.
Israel continues to confiscate land for the construction of the
wall/fence and destroys homes in the West Bank and Gaza for those
that carry no permit or for "military purposes." |
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RESOURCES:
| Information on National Activities for June 14:
U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation |
| Informational
Fact Sheet on Caterpillar to Israel (Adobe PDF) |
| “Razing Rafah: Mass
Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip,” Human Rights Watch, October
2004 - http://www.hrw.orsg/reports/2004/rafah1004/ |
| “Under the Rubble:
House Demolition and Destruction of Land and Property,” Amnesty
International, May 18, 2004 –
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004
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| “One Big Prison:
Freedom of Movement to and from the Gaza Strip on the Eve of the
Disengagement Plan,” B’Tselem (Israeli Information Center for Human
Rights), March 29, 2005 -
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20050329.asp |
| News Release from 2005 -
"Just Hours Before Caterpillar Shareholders Meet in Chicago
Caterpillar Bulldozers Destroy Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem,"
two homes demolished by Caterpillar bulldozers in Anata; demolitions
underway in Kfar Akab. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions,
April 13, 2005
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FEEDBACK FORM
CJME and
local peace groups are coordinating activities on
June 14, 2006 in Kansas City to include an Informational
Vigil. You or your group is invited to participate
in the planning and activities. Fill out the form
below to specify how you would like to support the Day
of Action Against Caterpillar.
By
Phone:
(816) 729-9102 |
By Mail:
6100 W. 52nd Street,
Mission, KS 66202
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By Email:
Please complete the form below and you will be
contacted by someone to help on the Caterpillar
action.
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Report on 2005 Kansas City protest of Caterpillar
bulldozer sales (Kansas City Star, 4/14/05)
Posted on Thu, Apr. 14, 2005
Don't sell to Israel, protesters say
By MARY SANCHEZ The Kansas City Star
More than 30 persons gathered Wednesday in Kansas
City to protest Caterpillar Inc.'s sales to Israel of bulldozers
used to demolish Palestinian homes.
The protest outside the Kansas City offices of
Dean Machinery Co., a Caterpillar dealer, was part of a national
demonstration.
“We just want shalom for everybody,” said Ann
Suellentrop of Kansas City, Kan. “Safety, security for everyone.”
The company issued a statement that read, in part:
“Caterpillar shares the world's concern over unrest in the Middle
East. … However, more than two million Caterpillar machines and
engines are at work in virtually every country. … We have neither
the legal right nor the means to police individual use of that
equipment.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/11387509.htm
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