Caterpillar Caught in Web Of Middle East Politics By Larry Cohler-Esses and Josh Nathan-Kazis

At first glance, the contention that a construction equipment company in Peoria, Ill., is implicated in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems strange. But earlier in July, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States adopted a resolution that strongly criticized Caterpillar Inc., the manufacturer whose tractors, bulldozers and mining equipment help build and farm America, for its role in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
The resolution, passed at the annual conference of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), called on Caterpillar to “carefully review its involvement in obstacles to a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine, and to take affirmative steps to end its complicity in the violation of human rights.”
The Presbyterian action was but the latest development in a multiyear campaign against the company for supplying Israel with construction equipment used in the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, particularly a special militarized bulldozer used to demolish Palestinian homes and other buildings.
In protest of Caterpillar’s Middle East policies, the Church of England has divested its assets in the company — a measure also considered by PC(U.S.A.). Other organizations have engaged it through shareholder activism at the behest of opponents of the Israeli occupation.
But in a response to the Forward, Caterpillar strongly defended its sales to Israel, saying it could not monitor how its bulldozers and other machines are used. The company stressed that it does not militarize the bulldozers, called D9s, that are at the heart of the activists’ charges. That customizing is done by Israel.http://www.forward.com/articles/129547/

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