Divestment Debate Continues with Resolution Against Caterpillar Inc.
A New York-based human rights groups called on Caterpillar Inc to suspend sales of its D9 bulldozers to the Israeli army, echoing the voice of the Presbyterian Church (USA), in a Nov. 22 statement. On the same day, the San Francisco-based Jewish Voice for Peace issued a resolution that urged Caterpillar to review whether the sale of the D-9 bulldozer violates its corporate code of conduct.
Caterpillar Inc., the Illinois-based heavy-equipment giant, has been one of the main targets of the PCUSA’s recently passed divestment plan. The divestment plan calls for the withdrawal of investments from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Gaza and West Bank.
According to the PCUSA’s news service PCnews, the Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s implicit endorsement of the JVP’s resolution can gain greater support during the JVP’s upcoming shareholder’s meeting.
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“Since we worked with the [Catholic Sisters of Loretto] to file our resolution last year, Caterpillar has come under a huge amount of pressure for selling bulldozers to Israel that are used to demolish homes,” said JVP campaign director Liat Weingart. “Groups as varied as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the Presbyterians and Pax Christi have all criticized Caterpillar for its sales of bulldozers to Israel. Groups within the Mennonite and Anglican churches are lobbying for them to take a state as well.”
According to PCnews, the HRW had urged Caterpillar’s CEO James Owens to halt the sale of D9 bulldozer weeks ago, because these machines are used to destroy Palestinian homes, destroy agriculture and shred roads.
“Caterpillar betrays its stated values when it sells bulldozers to Israel knowing that they are being used to illegally destroy Palestinian homes,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director. “Until Israel stops these practices, Caterpillars continued sales will make the company complicit in human rights abuses.”
However, Owens responded to the charge by saying Caterpillar does not have the legal right to determine how the D9s are used after they are sold. Owens’ response provoked more criticism from the HRW, which said called Caterpillar’s approach a “head-in-the-sand approach that ignores developing international standards as defined in the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises.” The HRW also charged Caterpillar of ignoring its own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct, which requires the company to take social, economic, political and environmental priorities into account.
The D9, though built for construction, are normally armored by the Israeli Military Industries Ltd once they are bought. The D9 stands more than 13 feet tall and 26 feet long; it has killed several protestors in the last year alone, according to PCnews.
The divestment issue, which erupted during the June 2004 General Assembly of the PC(USA), has been the subject of numerous heated debates – including an arson threat against PC(USA) offices last month. Those in support of divestment says such an effort is needed to protect Palestinians from the Israeli occupation and construction of a separation barrier. Those who oppose divestment say the Israeli government needs to construct a wall between Israel and Palestine to protect itself from Palestinian suicide bombers.
The PC(USA) will not decide fully on which companies to divest from until early next year; It will not move to implement its threats to divest until 2006.
