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Caterpillar pressed to refuse sales to Israel

By Alexandra J. Wall · November 30, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 — On the first anniversary of the death of an American pro-Palestinian activist, some 50 members of a group called Jewish Voice for Peace descended on San Leandro to meet with executives of the company that sold the bulldozer that crushed her. Peterson Tractor Co. was singled out by the group because it deals almost exclusively in Caterpillar equipment — the same kind as used by the Israel Defense Forces to demolish Palestinian homes. A year ago, a Caterpillar bulldozer also crushed to death Rachel Corrie, a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, as she tried to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished in the Gaza Strip. The activists were joined Tuesday by Brian Avery, another activist with the International Solidarity Movement, who was shot in the face by the IDF. Avery was slated to appear at several commemorations this week in the San Francisco Bay Area marking Corrie’s death. One such vigil took place March 16 outside the Consulate General of Israel in downtown San Francisco, drawing about 40 people. Activists marked the one-year anniversary of Corrie’s death in similar demonstrations around the United States, United Kingdom and Sweden. The Jewish Voice for Peace members wrote a letter a month ago to the CEO of Peterson Tractor Co. to request a meeting; they received no response. Dressed in business attire and carrying no signs, so as not to look like protesters, the activists showed up unannounced in the lobby of the Peterson company, shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. The group was told that the CEO was away, but that the CEO’s deputy would meet with them. Standing in the lobby, Penny Rosenwasser of Oakland led the group in the recitation of Kaddish for Corrie. While the Peterson executive who met with them refused to give his name, he did listen to the group’s five demands, as outlined by Glen Hauer of Berkeley. The executive, however, rejected all their demands. The demands were: to ask the company to urge Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark (D-Calif.) to support a House of Representatives resolution urging an independent investigation into Corrie’s death; to support the group’s own resolution among Caterpillar shareholders that it not sell its equipment to Israel; that it urge the CEO of Caterpillar to meet with the Corrie family; to communicate to the Caterpillar company that this dealership does not want its equipment being sold to violate human rights, and to issue a statement of general concern. Jewish Voice for Peace has bought stock in Caterpillar, a publicly owned company, specifically so that it can sponsor a resolution that the company stop selling its equipment to Israel. The resolution states, “Since 1967, the Israeli government has used Caterpillar equipment, including specifically modified D9 and D10 bulldozers to destroy over 7,000 buildings in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, leaving 50,000 men, women and children homeless.” When a Peterson staffer said, “You’re disrupting our business,” Rosenwasser responded, “Caterpillar machines have disrupted the lives of Palestinians for over 30 years now.” Liat Weingart, co-director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the company was not entirely hostile to what the group had to say and at least were open to hearing the group’s demands. But still, she said, “People here are selling Caterpillar bulldozers without any kind of idea of what they’re being used for on the other side of the planet; for demolishing houses and now building the wall” — a reference to the West Bank security barrier. “There’s no question about what’s going on and who’s culpable.” The Peterson Tractor Co. did not return phone calls seeking comment. Jewish Voice for Peace also launched an e-mail campaign asking its supporters to send letters of concern to Caterpillar. And the activists promised they would follow up with Peterson. The group said this is only the beginning of its campaign against Caterpillar; members are planning to attend its shareholders meeting in April in hopes of getting a resolution passed. “For the first time in history,” Weingart said, “Caterpillar is being forced to confront its policy internally.”

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