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BootCAT News Blog
News and Events on the BootCAT Campaign to Stop Caterpillar
:: Saturday, February 26, 2005 ::
Declaration Regarding Caterpillar Violations of Human Rights
:: Friday, February 25, 2005 ::
World Council of Churches calls for divestment from Israel
Last Update: 23/02/2005 05:11 World Council of Churches calls for divestment from Israel By Reuters and Haaretz Service
PARIS - The World Council of Churches, the main global body uniting non-Catholic Christians, encouraged members Tuesday to sell off investments in companies profiting from Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza. The Council's Central Committee, meeting in Geneva, praised the United States Presbyterian Church for examining the possibility of divestment in Israel similar to the financial boycott it used against the apartheid regime in South Africa two decades ago.
The Presbyterian threat, which echoes divestment debates at some U.S. universities, has set off a wave of dissent in the church and angered American Jewish leaders.
But the Central Committee, in a document approved at a week-long meeting at WCC headquarters that ended on Tuesday, highlighted the divestment push and encouraged other member churches to consider doing the same.
"This action is commendable in both method and manner, uses criteria rooted in faith and calls members to do the 'things that make for peace'," it declared, quoting St Luke's Gospel.
"Economic pressure, appropriately and openly applied, is one such means of action."
It was not clear how many of the WCC's 342 Protestant and Orthodox member churches would heed the call.
No companies targeted yet:
"Multinational corporations have been involved in the demolition of Palestinian homes," the WCC statement said.
They were also involved in "the construction of settlements and settlement infrastructure on occupied territory, in building a dividing wall which is also largely inside occupied territory, and in other violations of international law".
The Presbyterian Church's General Assembly called last July for a "phased, selective divestment" beginning no earlier than July 2006. A dissident group is asking church leaders to place a moratorium on the project as early as next month.
No companies have been singled out but a report naming the most likely targets is due in August.
Human rights groups have urged Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of construction machinery, to stop selling bulldozers to the Israel Defense Forces, saying they are used to wreck innocent Palestinians' homes in Gaza and the West Bank.
"[The occupation] is at the center of the cycle of violence in the region - whether it is suicide bombings or the displacement caused by the occupation... and impedes a peaceful solution to that conflict," the committee now selecting possible divestment targets said recently.
It is unclear how much of the church's $8 billion portfolio - investments covering pensions and other holdings controlled by its leadership - might be at issue.
Jewish groups are clearly upset. "Instead of talking about peace we're talking about Presbyterians," David Elcott, director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said this month. "They have deflected conversation in a very negative way."
The 2.5 million-strong church, the ninth largest in the United States, represents most U.S. Presbyterians.
:: Sunday, February 13, 2005 ::
Jeff Handmaker leads strategy discussion on divestment, sanctions and boycotts- Feb. 22
Date: Tuesday, February 22.
Time: 6 - 9 pm.
Place: 5 Longfellow Park, off Brattle Street near Harvard Square.
Jeff Handmaker was a human rights lawyer in South Africa who has been writing, speaking, and developing strategies around parallels between the South African Anti-apartheid work and Palestine. He has co-authored a series of pieces on this subject for the Electronic Intifada.
This is a great opportunity for activists to discuss with Jeff the different strategies, tactics and effectiveness of boycotts, sanctions and divestment.
The discussion will focus on learning where the South African experience relates to the Palestinian struggle and where it does not; lessons learned and how they apply to Palestine; and the relative merits and demerits of alternative strategies and tactics for divestment, sanctions and boycott initiatives as they relate to the Palestinian struggle.
:: Friday, February 11, 2005 ::
Teach-In on Palestine at Northeastern, February 17
Teach-In on Palestine and Palestinian Refugee Crisis
Sponsored by the NUSL NLG Student Chapter
Kelly McAnnany is a 3rd year law student who visited Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon as part of a National Lawyers Guild delegation. Bina Ahmad is a 3rd year law student who served as an intern with Al-Haq, an internationally recognized Palestinian human rights organization affiliated with the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva. As part of her internship, she traveled extensively in Palestine, documenting Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians.
Both Bina and Kelly will talk about their experiences in the context of international human rights law, and give a slide show presentation. Ryan Borgen, a 3rd year law student, interned last fall at the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid & Human Rights in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. As part of his internship, he analyzed US military assistance to Israel under US and international law, and its relationship to Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. He will briefly present on this research.
Thursday, February 17 at 12:40-2:10 p.m.
400 Huntington Ave. at Forsyth St.
Cargill 97 (basement of Cargill Hall)
Northeastern stop on the Green line or Ruggles stop on the Orange line
:: Thursday, February 10, 2005 ::
Film: Women in Struggle, Harvard Law School, Feb. 23rd
The Film "Women in Struggle" will be shown on Wednesday, February 23rd at Harvard Law School. The film maker, Buthina Khoury will be on hand to answer questions after the film. This event is being put on by the Harvard Law School student group 'Justice for Palestine'. For more information about this group and upcoming events at Harvard please visit their web site.
Wednesday, Feb. 23rd
7:30pm
Harvard Law School
Austin Hall, East Room
Sponsored by Justice For Palestine
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jfp
The Truth about Camp David - Talk at Harvard, February 17th
Clayton Swisher, a journalist and associate for a Washington based Middle East consulting firm, will be speaking at Harvard on Thursday February 17th. Mr. Swisher is the author of the book "The Truth About Camp David", and will be available for book signing after the talk. This event is being put on by the Harvard Law School group Justice for Palestine. For more information about the group and upcoming events at Harvard please visit their web site.
Thursday, February 17th
8:00pm
Harvard University
Pound Hall, Room 204
Sponsored by Justice for Palestine
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jfp
:: Sunday, February 06, 2005 ::
Stop Caterpillar Online Petition - Please Sign and Distribute widely!
The BootCAT Campaign to Stop Caterpillar has setup an online petition to the Caterpillar Shareholders to cease the company from selling bulldozers to the Israeli army for use in illegal demolitions of Palestinian homes and agricultural lands. The petition calls on the Caterpillar Corporation to abide by its own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct and stop selling bulldozers as weapons in violation of US and international law.
More information on this petition and the Caterpillar Shareholders resolution can be found on the BootCAT website here:
http://www.bootcat.org/Petition.html
Please endorse this petition by signing your name and email (and optionally provide your address or comments on the petition). You may also request to be placed on our mailing list for updates on the Stop Caterpillar campaign.
Please distribute this petition widely to relevant mailing lists and organizations. The online petition complements efforts on the ongoing printed petition being distributed at various events nationwide. We need to get as many signatures as possible before the next Caterpillar Shareholders meeting on Chicago, IL on April 13, 2005.
BootCAT representatives will be present to hand over the signed petition to shareholders and make a strong case to the shareholders of Caterpillar Corporation to act in accordance with human rights norms and the company's own code of conduct.
http://www.petitiononline.com/stopcat/
:: Friday, February 04, 2005 ::
House demolitions hit 12,700 in West Bank and Gaza Strip
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) Report
May 7th, 2003
The total number of Palestinians made homeless by Israeli's military demolition campaign climbed above 12,000 this month following a rapid acceleration of the policy in Gaza during the first quarter of this year.
Since the beginning of the current strife in September 2000 until April 30 2003, a total of 12,737 people had seen their homes demolished in Gaza and the West Bank. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is responsible for the welfare for almost all of those affected, is trying to raise donor funds to replace the lost shelters in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Recent months have seen a sharp increase in house demolitions in the Gaza Strip. At the end of 2002, total and partial demolitions had until then averaged under 30 per month. In the first three months of 2003, 221 shelters were demolished or damaged beyond repair - making an average of 74 per month. These alone housed 401 families (2,273 persons).
http://www.catdestroyshomes.org/article.php?id=52
:: Thursday, February 03, 2005 ::
Palestine in Cinema, Cinema in Palestine at Harvard Law School
Arna's Children will be playing as part of a film series by Justice for Palestine at Harvard Law School.
"Arna's Children tells the story of a theatre group that was established by Arna Mer Khamis. Arna comes from a Zionist family and in the 1950s married a Palestinian Arab, Saliba Khamis. On the West Bank, she opened an alternative education system for children whose regular life was disrupted by the Israeli occupation."
http://www.arnaschildren.com
Wednesday February 9, at 7:30pm
Austin Hall, East Room
Harvard Law School
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jfp
:: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 ::
University of Wisconsin Faculty Call for Israel Divestment
An excerpt from an article sent by Nancy Murray. The link to the University of Wisconsin Divestment Campaign's Web Page is very informative.
(Madison, WI- 02/01/05) The Faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville adopted a resolution last week demanding that the University divest from companies that provide the Israeli Army with weapons, equipment, and supporting systems.
The resolution urges the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to eliminate investments in Caterpillar, General Dynamics, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, and Raytheon from the Universityˆs Trust Fund "based on evidence of the active role these companies play in enabling Israeli Forces to engage in practices that violate international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people." Investments in the companies specified by the resolution exceed $2.8 million.
The resolution, adopted at the regular meeting on January 25th, is part of the University of Wisconsin Divestment From Israel Campaign, led by Al-Awda Wisconsin (The Palestine Right to Return Coalition) and Alternative Palestinian Agenda in partnership with several local social justice, student, and community organizations.
The Faculty Senate cited reports by independent international, Palestinian, and Israeli Human Rights organizations that document widespread human rights violations against Palestinian civilians. These abuses are in many cases perpetrated using items produced by the companies identified in the resolution. The resolution also pointed out that these investments violate the University¹s Trust and Fund Policy on socially responsible investment.
The University of Wisconsin Regents Trust and Fund Policies provide that divestment ought to be carried out in cases where any company, corporation, subsidiary or affiliates practices or condones through its actions discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, creed or sex or cases where corporate policies or practices cause substantial social injury...
The University of Wisconsin Divestment from Israel Campaign plans to introduce similar resolutions to other university and community institutions.
http://alawda.rso.wisc.edu
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