Caterpillar, Inc., moves board meeting to Little Rock, AR, to avoid protests on sale of militarized bulldozers to Israel

Caterpillar Inc., the Peoria, IL based heavy equipment manufacturer, has moved its annual shareholder meeting to Little Rock, AR, from the Chicago area in order to avoid continued protests over its sale of militarized bulldozers to Israel. Instead of seeking to resolve the issue, Caterpillar’s response to the submission of resolutions seeking to hold it accountable to its own code of conduct and protests inside and outside of the shareholder meetings in prior years is to avoid corporate responsibility.

Chicagoan Against Apartheid in Palestine (CAAP, successor to StopCAT) joins End the Occupation and Jewish Voices for Peace in telling Caterpillar “YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE!” Moving the shareholder meeting to Little Rock will not stop the protest for justice for those killed, injured and dispossessed through the destruction of Palestinian homes with Caterpillar bulldozers.

Since 2004, CAAP, End the Occupation, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Sisters of Mercy and others have sought to end sales of militarized bulldozers by Caterpillar to Israel. These bulldozers are principally used to destroy homes of Palestinian families in a form of collective punishment (in violation of international law) and in furtherance of the occupation of Palestinian lands. Caterpillar’s response has been to claim no control over end use of the bulldozers even in the face of mountains of evidence of just such use.

Moving the meeting will not end our protests and goal of an immediate end to these sales. We will continue our campaign for justice.

See www.caap.org and US Campaign for more information on the campaign to stop Caterpillar sales to Israel.