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News and Events on the BootCAT Campaign to Stop Caterpillar

:: Friday, April 29, 2005 ::

 
    Tribute Concert at MIT- May 1st
    May 1st, 2005, Sunday
    Cambridge, MA
    MIT, Kresge Auditorium
    8:00 pm

    From Syria to Andalusia: A Tribute to Asmahan & Farid Al-Atrash. Featuring: Simon Shaheen & The Near Eastern Music Ensemble and members of the fusion group “Quantra.” Tickets are $28 and $40, student price is $20. You can get tickets online at http://web.mit.edu/arab

    For more information contact arab-comm@mit.edu

    web.mit.edu/arab

    >> posted by blythe at 12:49 PM  ::  0 comments  
 
    Queers in Palestine: May 13th
    MAY 13TH 7PM AT SPONTANEOUS CELEBRATIONS (jamaica plain)

    QUEERS IN PALESTINE: slice show, film screening, and dance party to
    benefit ASWAT
    $5-$10 sliding scale

    Come one come all! See a gripping slideshow about occupation and a
    screening of the recent film LISTEN!, made up of interviews with ASWAT's director.
    Then dance with music by DJ D'HANA.

    ASWAT ("voices") is the first and only Palestinian queer organization.
    They recently lost their office space and need funds in order to continue
    their important work. More info at www.aswat-palestiniangaywomen.org

    www.aswat-palestiniangaywomen.org

    >> posted by blythe at 12:04 PM  ::  0 comments  

:: Monday, April 25, 2005 ::

 
    Next BootCAT Meeting

:: Sunday, April 24, 2005 ::

 
    Panel Discussion on Divestment at Harvard
    The Presbyterian Church’s
    DECISION TO DIVEST FROM ISRAEL

    A panel discussion with Reverend Patricia Budd Kepler and Reverend Thomas F. Kepler of the Boston Presbytery, with Hilary Rantisi, Director of the Middle East Initiative at the Kennedy School and Paul Beran, lecturer in political science at Northeastern University.

    Tuesday, April 26 at 7pm

    Emerson 105

    What exactly does this divestment entail? What were the reasons for it? Discover the answers to these questions directly from members of the Church who were involved in the decision.

    Brought to you by the Society of Arab Students and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee in association with Presbyterian Church USA, the International Relations Council, Christian Impact and the Woodbridge Society of International Students


    >> posted by blythe at 2:08 PM  ::  1 comments  

:: Thursday, April 21, 2005 ::

 
    April 13th Report Back from JVP
    All of us at JVP, especially the members of the Caterpillar committee, are just catching our breath after the build-up to the Caterpillar annual meeting in Chicago on April 13. Still, we couldn't wait to let you know what happened. We're simply ecstatic about the work of diverse groups that came together to call on CAT to end the sale of weaponized bulldozers to the Israeli military, including Stop Caterpillar-Chicago, US Campaign to End the Occupation, the Sisters of Loretto, Mercy Investment Group, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

    On the global front, protests were held in over 30 cities around the world, bringing massive attention to CAT's role in profiting from violating human rights and perpetuating the occupation.

    Shareholder resolutions are non-binding, so the goal is not to win all the votes but rather to shine a spotlight on the issue -- a spotlight that cannot be ignored by CAT board of directors. In that,we were successful beyond our wildest dreams.

    The issue of home demolitions of Palestinian homes dominated the entire meeting, ensuring that the staff and board of directors of CAT will be dealing with this issue for a long time to come. CAT CEO Jim Owens spent the majority of the meeting asking, "Does anyone have anything else to talk about, anything related to business?" Of course the only business that most people attending wanted to talk about was home demolitions and sales to the Israeli military.

    Three people from the American Jewish Congress and Stand With Us also attended the meeting. JVP Co-Director Liat Weingart spoke to Rosz Rothstein, the representative from Stand With Us, who shockingly told Weingart that Palestinians do not own their land. "What do they expect will happen if they build a house in Yosemite? If you build on land that isn't yours, how can you expect that it won't be demolished?" We took heart in the knowledge that AJCongress and Stand With Us are out of touch with both the US administration's understanding of the conflict and with mainstream American Jewish opinion, which is much more peace-minded and respectful of human rights.

    JVP board member Sara Norman gave a stunning speech to introduce our shareholder resolution, saying that investigating CAT bulldozers' role in destroying civilian homes is "responsible corporate decision-making." Our resolution got 3% of the vote, meaning we won the support of investors holding close to 3/4 billion dollars of CAT stock, including CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the world.
    Finally, we achieved feature coverage in dozens of media outlets throughout the world including the LA Times, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, the Associated Press, and Reuters. One of America's most respected business programs, NPR's Marketplace, also featured the campaign as the second story on their evening program on April 13. As the Chicago Tribune reported, CAT suffered a "punishing public relations campaign" this past year.

    The campaign is starting to have a clear financial impact on the company. Whereas in 2001, only 3 stories ran in major media connecting CAT bulldozers with human rights abuses, already in the first quarter of 2005, 275 similar stories have run in major English language publications. One commentator documented that CAT stock went down by 8.5% on the week of the shareholder vote, as compared to a 6% decrease for competitor John Deere. On the week of an annual meeting, it's very unusual that a company's stock decrease, rather than increase, given that the focus of an annual meeting is to highlight the strengths and accomplishments of the company.

    Now, with partners all over the world taking action to stop CAT sales to the Israeli military and to divest from corporations that irresponsibility profit from the occupation, the tide is starting to turn.

    Cecilie Surasky


    >> posted by blythe at 2:28 PM  ::  0 comments  
 
    MIT Palestinian Awreness Week- April 25
    The MIT Annual Palestinian Awareness Week

    April 25, 2005 - May 1, 2005

    Sponsored by MIT ASO, MIT MSA, & MIT SJC - http://web.mit.edu/arab/www/PAW/paw.html

    A week full of events to spread campus-wide awareness about the Palestinian struggle under the Israeli occupation.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    The Wall Display in Lobby 10
    Monday, April 25, 2005 - Wednesday, April 27, 2005
    (9:00am - 5:00pm)

    The Israeli Wall Model is going to be as part of a display in Lobby 10. The purpose of the display is to provide information about the human rights violations and the illegalities of the Israeli Wall that is being constructed by the Israeli government. Student volunteers will be handing out pamphlets and documents explaining the key historical events in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Documentaries & Discussions
    Monday, April 25, 2005 & Tuesday, April 26, 2005
    (7:30pm - 9:00pm) in Room 4-237

    * On Monday, we will display award-winning documentary film "Jenin Jenin" (54 minutes) which exposes Israel's war crimes and consistent policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.
    * On Tuesday, we will display 'On the Ground', a live witnessing of home demolitions in Palestine.


    Thursday, April 28, 2005
    (7:30pm - 9:00pm) in Room 4-37

    * On Thursday, we will show 'Women In Struggle', a film about Palestinian women whom are ex-political detainees demonstrating their struggle during their years of imprisonment in Israeli jails exploring the affects and influence on their present life and their future outlook.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Panel Discussion: Palestine Under Occupation
    Saturday, April 30, 2005
    (7:00pm - 8:30pm) in Room 10-250

    A panel of well-renowned speakers will discuss the current situation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The speakers include:

    * Dr. Susan Akram - Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Boston University in Boston.
    * Leila Farsakh - Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Massachusetts in Boston.
    * Dr. Elaine Hagopian - Professor Emerita of Sociology at Simmons College in Boston.

    http://web.mit.edu/arab/www/PAW/paw.html

    >> posted by blythe at 2:15 PM  ::  1 comments  
 
    Alice Rothchild at Harvard- April 27
    Justice for Palestine Presents:

    REPORT BACK:
    A Look at Health and Human Rights in Gaza and the West Bank

    Speaker: Dr Alice Rothchild

    WEDNESDAY, April 27
    7:30 pm
    Pound Hall room 107
    Harvard Law School


    Join peace activist Dr. Alice Rothchild as she reports on the current situation in the Occupied Territories, the public health impact of the continued military presence, and visions for coexistence. Dr. Rothchild serves on the steering committee for Visions of Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine and recently served on a medical delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories with the Jewish American Medical Project. A Boston-based physician, she has sought to build alliances between Israelis and Palestinians in opposition to Israeli policies of occupation.

    For more information on Dr Rothchild's organization, visit: http://www.vopj.org

    http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jfp/

    >> posted by blythe at 2:11 PM  ::  0 comments  

:: Monday, April 18, 2005 ::

 
    April 13th Shareholder meeting and press

:: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 ::

 
    Next BootCAt Meeting-April 19th  
    April 18th: Lucy Nusseibeh at Tufts
    The Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights invites you to join us for an evening with:

    Lucy Nusseibeh

    "Israeli and Palestinian Women Together and Apart: Reflections on Strategies for Dealing With Conflict and Promoting Peace"

    Monday, April 18, 5-7 PM
    7th Floor of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
    Tufts University, 160 Packard Ave., Medford, MA.

    Lucy Nusseibeh is the founder and director of Middle East Nonviolence and
    Democracy (MEND) a Palestinian non-profit based in East Jerusalem. For the
    current academic year she is a fellow of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, working on a policy paper for Women Waging Peace on Israeli and Palestinian women peacemakers. Before setting up MEND, Ms. Nusseibeh directed the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence and the Palestinian centre for Democracy and Elections (during the 1996 Palestinian elections). She taught for nine years in the Department of Cultural Studies and Philosophy at Bir Zeit University and was educated at Oxford and Harvard.

    RSVP by Friday, April 15th, to:
    lilia.gerberg@tufts.edu.

    For directions to the Fletcher School and a campus map please go to:
    http://fletcher.tufts.edu/directions/Default.asp

    For parking information please go to:
    http://publicsafety.tufts.edu/adminsvc/parking/medford-somerville/visitor.html

    www.fletcher.tufts.edu/directions/default.asp

    >> posted by blythe at 11:40 AM  ::  0 comments  

:: Friday, April 08, 2005 ::

 
    Final Demonstration in Milford- Tomorrow!
    Back by Popular Demand:

    A truly final morning at Caterpillar (for now).
    Sat., April 9th

    SAME PLAN AS BEFORE
    Meet at Porte Square to Carpool out at 10am sharp.
    OR
    Go directly to CAT and meet in the shopping center parking lot at 11AM

    -------------------------

    DIRECTIONS from BOSTON to Milton-CAT at 100 Quarry Drive, MILFORD, MA 01757

    Take I-90 WEST out of Boston - go 27.5 mi
    Take exit #11A towards CAPE COD onto I-495 SOUTH - go 7.9 mi
    Take exit #20 towards MILFORD
    At the bottom of the offramp, turn Right onto RT-85
    Turn Left at first light onto FORTUNE BLVD
    Turn Right on QUARRY DR - go 0.2 mi
    Continue on QUARRY past the CAT complex
    PARK in the shopping center parking lot just ahead.


    >> posted by blythe at 12:16 PM  ::  0 comments  

:: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 ::

 
    April 8-9: AFSC Conference
    Another America is Possible
    American Friends Service Committee New England Wide Conference
    Building 34,Vassar Street
    MIT

    Friday, April 8th 6:00pm-9:00pm
    Saturday, April 9th 8:30am-5:30pm

    "Join us in building a movement to challenge the Bush 'Administration's'dangerous priorities and facilitate campaigns to defeat the Bush agenda and build the other America that is possible"

    -Members of the BootCAT campaign will be petitioning at the event. Come join us!

    http://www.afsc.org/newengland/nepeace.htm

    >> posted by blythe at 9:12 PM  ::  0 comments  

:: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 ::

 
    April 13th Events: International Day of Action Against Caterpillar
    April 13th: International Day of Action Against Caterpillar
    Please join us for an INFORMATIONAL SESSION AND RALLY

    The Chapel, First Parish Church (Unitarian-Universalist) in Harvard Square
    (enter at 3 Church Street)
    Wednesday, April 13 5:15 - 6:15 PM

    Featuring:
    • Talk by Israeli author & activist Michel (Mikado) Warschawski
    • Presentation on the national & local Caterpillar campaigns
    • Documentary footage on the destruction by Caterpillar of Palestinian homes, land & lives.

    Rally in Harvard Square at 6:15 PM in solidarity with the worldwide demonstrations against Caterpillar that are Caterpillar shareholders gatheringtaking place on this day when in Chicago for their annual meeting will consider the ethics of selling bulldozers as weapons to the Israeli military.


    >> posted by blythe at 1:05 PM  ::  0 comments  

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