In what may be a major triumph for the Interfaith Group for Morally Responsible Investment, unattributed sources linked to a leading British Newspaper claim that the Church Commissioners have secretly sold their £2.2. million shares in Caterpillar.Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment and the largest UK employer in the earth moving and construction industry. With 93,000 employees and 3,000 branches in 180 countries, its sales and revenue in 2004 amounted to $30 billion. Caterpillar also markets a range of rugged boots, branded clothing and fashion accessories.
Caterpillar has a Code of Worldwide Business Conduct. In it they state that “We avoid those who violate the law or fail to comply with the sound business practices we promote.” Caterpillar bulldozers have been used by the Israeli military since 1967 to consolidate its illegal occupation and colonisation of the Palestinian Territories. Caterpillar bulldozers have been used by the Israeli military to demolish thousands of Palestinian homes, schools, farms, wells, roads, orchards and ancient olive groves.
Their frequent use has come to international public attention following three major incidents: the destruction of the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002; the killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie in Gaza in March 2003; and the destruction of homes, roads and agricultural land in Rafah in May 2004. As a consequence, Caterpillar have been subjected to unprecedented criticism from the United Nations and international human rights groups.
The Israeli army has around 100 Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, each weighing over 53 tons. At nearly 4 metres high and over 8 metres long, with a powerful front-fitted blade and rear ‘ripper’ blade, the D9 bulldozer is as tall as a double decker bus and as heavy as a tank. Caterpillar bulldozers are further customised by the Israeli military adding machine gun mounts, smoke projectors and grenade launchers.
In an interview in Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s most popular tabloid newspaper in May 2002, following the use of Caterpillar D9s causing widespread death and destruction in the Jenin refugee camp, Moshe Nissim, a bulldozer operator admitted,
“I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D9 … when I was told to bring down a house, I took the opportunity to bring down some more houses … They were warned by loudspeaker to get out of the house before I came, but I gave no one a chance. I didn’t wait. I didn’t give one blow and wait for them to come out. I would just ram the house with full power, to bring it down as fast as possible.”
According to War on Want, the bulldozer unit was cited for outstanding service for its role in the operation.
Following the devastation caused by Caterpillar D9s by the Israeli army during their assault on the Rafah refugee camp in May 2004, John Dugard, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, accused the Israeli military of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In his report to the UN General Assembly Dugard noted:
“Homes have been destroyed in a purely purposeless manner. Bulldozers have savagely dug up roads, including electricity, sewage and water lines, in a brutal display of power … The time has come for the international community to identify those responsible for this savage destruction of property and to take the necessary legal action against them.”
Caterpillar bulldozers are also being used in the construction of Israel’s controversial Separation Barrier, encroaching deep inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The route of the Separation Barrier, with imposing watchtowers and sniper positions built every few hundred metres, is clearly intended to incorporate Israel’s illegal Settlement Blocks, annexe significant portions of the Palestinian Territories such as the Jordan Valley and imprison Palestinians within a series of isolated Bantustans (see later for definition).
Deprived of their land and denied access to employment, schools and hospitals, the impact of the Separation Barrier is deeply traumatic and will further exacerbate the exodus of Palestinians from their homeland. In July 2004 the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest judicial body, ruled the Barrier illegal, demanding construction be halted, dismantled and compensation paid to Palestinians affected by it.
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand Israel abide by the ICJ’s ruling. All countries which are party to the Fourth Geneva Convention are obliged to ensure Israel’s compliance with the Convention, and to restrain corporations such as Caterpillar from participating in the Barrier’s construction.
The Caterpillar D9 is now an indispensable weapon used by the Israeli military against the civilian Palestinian population, largely funded by the US government’s Foreign Military Sales Programme.
Jewish Voice for Peace insist “Caterpillar bulldozers are not given to Israel as construction equipment but explicitly as weapons.”
In the words of Robert Fisk, the Middle East analyst, the Caterpillar bulldozer that killed Rachel Corrie “was part of the regular US aid to Israel.”
The uses of Caterpillar D9’s by the Israeli military in the Palestinian Occupied Territories is in violation of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and this constitute war crimes under international law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both urge Caterpillar to take a closer look at the UN Norms on business and human rights. As HRW point out, “The UN standards exist for the behaviour of companies. Caterpillar has every reason to know that the D9 is being used to destroy homes illegally, and it is therefore complicit in these facts.”
The Interfaith Group for Morally Responsible Investment now call upon UK churches directly to exert pressure on companies and corporations to discontinue business activities that:
1. Provide products, services or technology that sustain, support or maintain the occupation of the Palestinian Territories;
2. Provide products, services, or financial support for the establishment, expansion, or maintenance f settlements on occupied land;
3. Provide products, services or financial backing to groups that commit violence against innocent civilians;
4. Provide finances or assist in the construction of Israel’s Separation Barrier. Disinvestment is a non-violent option that brings attention to the issues, and promotes peaceful change.
“Non violence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding… It is a sword that heals.” Revd. Martin Luther King
"Our aim is not to bring Israel to its knees but to its senses" Zougbhi Zougbhi, Wi'am, Bethlehem. The Church of England General Synod Votes to Divest from CaterpillarIn May 2005 the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) gave consideration to the Church of England’s investment in Caterpillar Inc. and in September 2005 determined not to advocate disinvestment from Caterpillar. Nevertheless they have stated:
“EIAG is concerned at the uses to which the Israeli authorities have put Caterpillar machines in the past. It will therefore actively monitor the situation, and review this decision rigorously if further sales are made that appear likely to result in the destruction of infrastructure or to place lives or livelihoods at risk.”
Canon Naim Ateek of the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre in Jerusalem together with the Right Revd Riah Abu El Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, have both extended an invitation to the members of the EIAG to visit Palestine urgently and see first hand the wholesale destruction of Palestinian homes, businesses and farms caused by the 100 Caterpillar bulldozers the Israeli army already owns. Canon Ateek and Bishop Riah have both called for disinvestment.
In January 2006 the Church of England's General Synod made an historic decision to divest from Caterpillar. Here is the text of the motion passed by General Synod:
"This Synod:
(a) heeds the call from our sister church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, for morally responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories and, in particular, to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation, such as Caterpillar Inc, until they change their policies;
(b) encourages the Ethical Investment Advisory Group to follow up the consultation referred to in its Report with intensive discussions with Caterpillar Inc, with a view to its withdrawing from supplying or maintaining either equipment or parts for use by the state of Israel in demolishing Palestinian homes &c;
c) in the light of the urgency of the situation, and the increased support needed by Palestinian Christians, urges members of the EIAG to actively engage with monitoring the effects of Caterpillar Inc's machinery in the Palestinian occupied territories through visiting the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East to learn of their concerns first hand, and to see recent house demolitions;
d) urges the EIAG to give weight to the illegality under international law of the activities in which Caterpillar Inc's equipment is involved; and
e) urges the EIAG to respond to the monitoring visit and the further discussions with Caterpillar by updating its recommendations in the light of these."
Read the Open letter sent to the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) of the Church of England from the Interfaith Group for Morally Responsible Investment (IMRI) in April 2006 challenging the EIAG over its premature decision and superficial engagement with Caterpillar.
For more information on the Caterpillar campaign see here
