Jewish Voice for Peace

Let CAT know what you think. We will hand-deliver your message.

UPDATE: If you have NOT sent an email yet, please sign this petition instead of the email below.

We've asked you to write letters to Caterpillar. Within 2 days, we got over 4,000 emails! Thank you! As we promised, we will print each one and hand-deliver it to the CAT Board of Directors, but we are not sure if we can cope with schlepping even more paper to that meeting.

So we are going to go a bit easier on trees from now on: Instead of signing this letter, go to this petition instead. The text is the same, but we will use less paper when we print and hand-deliver to CAT. Go to this petition and sign it by June 9.

Next Wednesday, June 10th, 2009, Caterpillar will hold its annual shareholder meeting. For the sixth year in a row, Jewish Voice for Peace will be there to tell the company to get out of the business of demolishing Palestinian homes.

(Note: If you are from outside the U.S. and Canada, please select "Other" which is found at the very bottom of the drop-down list of States and Provinces. This will allow you to submit your email. Thank you.)

November 21, 2009

Subject:
Stop selling bulldozers to Israel now

Caterpillar Board of Directors

We call on you to stop selling bulldozers to Israel until Israel stops using these machines to destroy Palestinian lives and livelihoods in contravention of human rights and humanitarian law. These sales contravene your own Code of Business Ethics.

Moreover, you have already acknowledged that the sale of your equipment modified for military purposes to Israel and all other foreign government amounts to a negligible 0.06% of your 2008 sales and revenues of $51.324 billion.

0.06% of your revenue. At what cost? How many Palestinian homes demolished? How many trees uprooted? How many lives lost?

A growing number of people are keeping account.

The use of your bulldozers to violate Palestinian human rights has been extensively documented in human rights reports (by Human Rights Watch, War on Want, Amnesty International and others) and has been conveyed to you in different ways over the years: in a letter from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, through interfaith shareholder resolutions, a lawsuit on behalf of the family of activist Rachel Corrie and four Palestinian families whose homes were demolished by Caterpillar bulldozers, and countless street protests around the world. Most recently, Hampshire College and the Church of England have divested from Caterpillar; other churches are considering similar steps.

Stop selling bulldozers to Israel now.

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