20 protesters visit brighton shops to call for a boycott of caterkiller until they stop selling D9 bulldozers to the Israeli military.
Cat statement
Churchill Square.
Press Release
Protest Against Caterpillar’s Exports to Israel
A protest procession took place today in Brighton calling for a boycott of Caterpillar’s export of bulldozers to Israel. This company’s D9 bulldozers, suitably adapted by the Israeli army, are used to demolish Palestinian homes and destroy Palestinian land in contravention of the Geneva Convention. Since 1999 over 3000 homes have been destroyed in this way making many more thousands of Palestinians homeless. Moreover, Caterpilla bulldozers are being used in the construction of the Apartheid Wall which divides communites from their land and has been declared illegal by the Internationl Court of Justice in The Hague.
The 20 protesters, wearing ‘Caterkiller’ T shirts visited shops stocking Caterpillar products such as footwear, and handed in letters to their managers calling on them to stop selling these goods. They also visited shops which have already responded to the call to withdraw Caterpillar products, and thanked their managers for their support.
The procession started at noon in Brighthelm Gardens, North Road, and proceeded down the lanes, visiting different Cat Suppliers on the way, and ended at Churchill square shopping centre. Further details about the Caterpillar boycott campaign can be found at www.caterkiller.org, www.stopthewall,org and www.catdestroyhomes.org . If you want to get involved localled, send an email to
boycottapartheid@hotmail.co.uk .
25th June 2005.
Protest Against Caterpillar’s Exports to Israel
A protest procession took place today in Brighton calling for a boycott of Caterpillar’s export of bulldozers to Israel. This company’s D9 bulldozers, suitably adapted by the Israeli army, are used to demolish Palestinian homes and destroy Palestinian land in contravention of the Geneva Convention. Since 1999 over 3000 homes have been destroyed in this way making many more thousands of Palestinians homeless. Moreover, Caterpilla bulldozers are being used in the construction of the Apartheid Wall which divides communites from their land and has been declared illegal by the Internationl Court of Justice in The Hague.
The 20 protesters, wearing ‘Caterkiller’ T shirts visited shops stocking Caterpillar products such as footwear, and handed in letters to their managers calling on them to stop selling these goods. They also visited shops which have already responded to the call to withdraw Caterpillar products, and thanked their managers for their support.
The procession started at noon in Brighthelm Gardens, North Road, and proceeded down the lanes, visiting different Cat Suppliers on the way, and ended at Churchill square shopping centre. Further details about the Caterpillar boycott campaign can be found at www.caterkiller.org, www.stopthewall,org and www.catdestroyhomes.org . If you want to get involved localled, send an email to
boycottapartheid@hotmail.co.uk . 25th June 2005.
Comments
Hide the following 11 comments
scuse me
25.06.2005 17:35
betar boy
Perhaps more to the point
25.06.2005 20:27
How COULD Cat comply with your demand? What possible mechanism do you envision? Treat that question seriously for a moment.
When nation X sells weapons to nation Y it is often with the provision (a condition of the sale) that these not be resold to nation Z. But all nation X can do if nation Y turns around and sells them to Z is to refuse to sell any more weapons to Y. They can't go to court and get the weapons back.
Of course private indiviudals CAN be taken to court. But what laws would you first have to get passed in the US (or in Britain for that matter) to make possible as a condition of outright purchase restiriction on resale. To be sure, we have this with LICENSED "property" where what is being sold is just the "right to use". However things like bulldozers are NOT normally sold that way. While a business like Cat MIGHT to a certain extent lease out (rather than sell) bulldozers normally this equipment is sold outright.
Understand? The only means by which Cat could prevent D9s or any of their other bulldozer models being bought by Israel is not to sell them to anybody. Not to me, for example. Certainly not to "Betar Boy".
Mike
e-mail:
stepbystpefarm mtdata.com
...
25.06.2005 21:38
What are you doing? Don't you think you're a little sad?
Hermes
What about......
25.06.2005 22:02
What about the innocent Israeli Arabs that get blown up?
What about the innocent Palestinian Arabs that get killed, blown up, ran over?
What about the 4,000+ INNOCENT PALESTINIANS that have BEEN KILLED in the LAST 4 1/2 years?
Isn't it interesting the your only concern is the jews that have been killed! you don't say ISRAELI'S, you said JEWS!
So!
Are you concerned about ISRAELI ARABS who might of been killed?
Is that because u believe that one group of people have more rights to one piece of land than another?
Or
Are you like me and believe that land could be shared?
Sharing Is Nice!
Continuing Sales
26.06.2005 09:08
The aim would be to get CAT to say something along the lines:
'We will never supply anything to X directly or indirectly.' Similar to the statements made to Shac.
If the company has a policy of not dealing with killers then that is enough, of course someone else could sell them on but that can not effectively dealt with - unless you ask the company that is now selling them to also make the same policy.
fredrico
e-mail:
musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk
silly campaign
26.06.2005 10:28
Countries: All the countries in the world apart from north korea syria and iran make business with Israel.
Why do you pick on caterpillar? Can I then buy nike instead with a free guilt mind? I dont think so Nike also makes business there.
Your campaign is silly, and in the very remote possibility that u succeed another company will take their place. And for your information the Palestinian AUthority aproves the death sentece and have recently executed some prisoner, have you thought about putting some pressure on them about this or u just dont care about human rights in Palestine if the ones abusing them are Palestinians?
roman
Silly or Sinister?
26.06.2005 11:23
Mike - Your comments show a deep lack of knowledge of the UK Government's export control policy. This policy is VERY tight and closely policed and enforced. The fines and restrictions that can be imposed for contravention of exports controls are severe (both in commercial and personal imprisonment terms) and would make any benefit to be gained by trying to avoid the law pale into insignificance. Only one conclusion therefore .........that Caterpillar and other companies like them are ACTING LEGALLY ! So leave them alone, if you don't like the goverment - protest against them - or have you forgotten you are lucky enough to live in a democracy. (By the way...because you obviously HAVE forgotten this bit .....in a democracy, other people and companies have the right to go about their lawful business without harrasment).
And to save anyone called Mary Litiman getting any phone calls - it is not (of course) a real name. Can anyone work it out?
Mary Litiman
No... No... No...
26.06.2005 12:53
I am not racist, prejudiced or anything else. I campaign for freedoms for all. Just because a campaign targets a country that is made up of one race doesn't mean it is racist.
True terrorism is wrong, but so is retaliation attacks. Too many 'innocent' people get killed because of a stupid struggle for power. It would save Israel a hell of a lot of lives and trouble to let the palestinians have their own country.Why don't they do it? Seems to be just so they don't lose face to anyone - but it isn't working, as nations across the world are seeing the country in a bad light.
It doesn't matter which companies you target - it all goes to the same end. If loads of large companies start turning to Israel and saying 'we won't deal with you because what you are doing is immoral (and under international law - illegal)' then they will take note.
fredrico
e-mail:
musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk
Why Caterpillar?
27.06.2005 08:30
"why dont you have a protest about the number of jews blown to bits by arab terrorists in Israel?"
Now, obviously its hard to tell just how successful his own experience of brainwashing has been - however, the two things ARE actually related, as this reort shows:
"The Haaretz newspaper said Thursday that the military committee that studied the house demolitions concluded there were only few cases in which it was clear the deterrence was effective.
In other instances, the damage the demolition created was greater than the benefit, the newspaper reported. "The deterrence, that is anyway limited, is not equal to the hatred and hostility this move breeds," the report added."
And that is the problem in a nutshell - the attacks on the Palestinian civilian population carried out by the Israeli 'Defence' Force do not reduce militarism, they increase it. If Israelis are to have security, then Palestinians MUST have security as well. And the policy of collective punishment, illegal under international law fuels the flames and causes deaths on BOTH sides.
"Mike" says:
"How COULD Cat comply with your demand? What possible mechanism do you envision? Treat that question seriously for a moment."
Firstly, CAT set itself up for this campaign by making claims such as this:
"As a company and as individuals, we hold ourselves to the highest standard of integrity and ethical behaviour... If we do any less, we put Caterpillar's name and our reputation for integrity at risk." (Caterpillar's Code of Worldwide Business Conduct, page 4)
Many of us believe that they should live up those fine words - especially as, despite having removed their fine words from their website, they're still pretending to be ethical:
Quite simply, they could refuse to sell to Israel - and the matter would then drop. For as lonmg as they insist that they will sell to Israel and that they can't control what Israel does with the bulldozers that Cat sells them - knowing EXACTLY what Israel will do with them - the company will continue to be the subject of its very own campaign.
Roman missed the point entirely with a very silly comment.
Mary is already brainwashed if she thinks illegal collective punishment is a "stand against religious fundamentalist terrorism" - for starters the Israel/Palestinian conflict is about the wholesale theft of land from an indegenous peoples - secondly reaction to Israeli brutality has been far more of a trigger for violent acts that the teachings of Islam..... ho hum
BOYCOTT CAT - STAMP OUT COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
Cataclysmic Mike
Homepage:
http://www.caterkiller.com
Don't Feed the Trolls
27.06.2005 22:55
Non Military Man
Thanks for writing
03.07.2005 22:48
Unfortunately, Mary cannot write personally to all her fans, but please feel free to continue enjoying the protection provided by our democratically elected government, courtesy of our armed forces using products from BAE, EDO, caterpillar etc etc.
"Hail to the chief.......etc etc"
Mary L