By Elizabeth Whitman
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 2, 2011 (IPS) - Israeli policies are destroying the livelihoods of Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank and the Negev in southern Israel, activists and aid workers warn.
They have done so for years, threatening to erase the traditional ways of these indigenous people, precipitating an acute and worrisome humanitarian situation, and, some experts believe, undermining the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
Though the difficulties facing Palestinian Bedouin vary by location, many agree that Israel's policies have marginalised them, making them a slowly disappearing minority of the minority with little or no political voice to challenge their fate.
A report released Monday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the most effective solutions to this problem would not be the provision of short term relief but instead "substantive changes to policies and practices applied by the Israeli authorities" - in short, addressing the fundamental issues forcing the Bedouin to relocate and relinquish their traditional ways of life.
All the Palestinian Bedouin reached by IPS suggested that that the United Nations is doing some, but too little, to help, despite its knowledge and understanding of their plight, and acknowledged as well the critical absence of a unified voice representing the Bedouin community. The Palestinian Authority's authority in Area C is also extremely limited, controlling only health and educational services.
The OCHA report, based on visits to 13 Bedouin villages in Area C of the West Bank, noted that "clear patterns of displacement are occurring in the Area C communities visited, with residents being forced to move in order to meet their basic needs", and concluded that "the restrictive planning regime applied by the Israeli authorities in Area C" was the primary cause of relocation.
Bedouin are usually unable to obtain Israeli Land Administration (ILA) permits necessary to build houses and schools, and frequently face demolition orders for pre-existing structures. They also have difficulty accessing resources and services such as water, land crucial for livestock, and education, because Israeli settlements and other structures take up 70 percent of Area C.
Maxwell Gaylard, who is based in Jerusalem as U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territory, told IPS that he had seen one school knocked down and rebuilt four times.
"Residents report living in a state of pervasive insecurity and instability due to administrative practices implemented by the Israeli authorities," the report found. It warned that ultimately, "some of these communities may disintegrate and disappear altogether over the course of the next generation".
Bedouin in the West Bank
After the 1993 Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided in 1995 into three parts - Areas A, B and C. With the exception of health and educational services, Israel retains full control over Area C, which comprises roughly 60 percent of the occupied territory and whose Palestinian population is a diminishing 150,000. Some 27,000 of those are Bedouin or members of herding communities.
The 300,000 Israeli settlers living in Area C particularly complicate the matter, as Israel seeks to clear out Area C to make room to construct more of the settlements that are illegal under international law.
Mohammad Al Korshan, a representative of the Area C Bedouin, told IPS that Israel wanted to relocate Bedouin from Area C into Palestinian cities mainly in Areas A and B. Without the help of NGOs or the U.N., in a few years, one will no longer find Bedouin living in the desert, he believed. Many have already been forced to sell their animals - herding is a traditional livelihood for Bedouin - because they no longer have land to graze them on.
He said the U.N. was helpful in some ways, such as by providing food or temporary work, but overall, the world body was not helping enough.
According to Gaylard, Area C is "critical to the viability of the future Palestinian state". Still, the report stated, Israel's "highly restrictive and discriminatory planning regime… completely excludes their [Palestinian] participation and contributes to poor living conditions" and stymies opportunities for the development necessary to build a future state.
Meanwhile, problems of more immediate concern include "poverty and nutrition levels" which have rendered "the humanitarian fallout… for the Bedouin and the herders… particularly acute," said Gaylard.
When asked who served as the voice of the Bedouin in the West Bank, Gaylard responded with a wry chuckle, "I think it's us." Some NGOs, both Arab and Israeli, are dedicated to defending Bedouin communities, he added.
Bedouin in the Negev
In the Negev, the desert region in southern Israel home to tens of thousands of Bedouin, many Bedouin villages go unrecognised by the Israeli government. Their residents face similar challenges to the Bedouin in the West Bank, but under different political circumstances. As Israeli citizens, they are not represented by the Palestinian Authority, yet they are not treated as equal citizens by the state of Israel.
Excluded from the state's regional development plan, Bedouin face "forced evictions, home demolitions, and other punitive measures disproportionately against Bedouin" compared to Jewish residents, said a 2008 Human Rights Watch report.
Khalil Alamour, a resident of the unrecognised village As-Sira in the Negev and activist for Bedouin rights, said, "We are now all under the threat of demolition, which can happen anytime… The situation is deteriorating."
No single entity represents Bedouin interests, he said in an interview with IPS, warning that Bedouins' unique culture and ways of life "are going disappear very soon".
Jihad el-Sana, a resident of the recognised town of Laqia who is fighting for Bedouin rights, pointed out the irony of living in the third world - the majority of Bedouin live below the poverty line, he said - in such a developed country as Israel.
He supported Alamour's claim that the Bedouin did not have one unified voice because the community was too divided by needs and circumstances - some members owned land, some didn't, while some Bedouin live in recognised villages and others in unrecognised ones. In addition to a lack of political cohesion among the Bedouin, the "United Nations is doing nothing," el-Sana added.
In a recent twist, the BBC reported last week that Israel is suing a Bedouin community in the Negev for over half a million dollars in demolition costs. Each time Israel demolishes the village, the Bedouin rebuild it. (END)
Mostrando postagens com marcador house demolitions. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador house demolitions. Mostrar todas as postagens
sexta-feira, 5 de agosto de 2011
quinta-feira, 23 de junho de 2011
Why am I organizing the Gaza boat? Because Jewish history commands me
21 June 2011, Mondoweiss http://mondoweiss.net (USA)
by Jane Hirschmann*
People often ask me why I am part of a team to organize a U.S. Boat to Gaza that will be sailing this month with the next International Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza. They often make clear they are asking because I am an American Jew, whose family survived the Holocaust with some surviving family members ending up in Israel. And my only answer is: How could I not?
My parents raised me with stories about what happened in Germany and their family’s escape. I came to see that Israel represented for them a safe haven should there be another attempt at annihilating Jews. And yet, at the same time, they worried it was not so safe a haven given the animosity and physical threats and violence in the area.
But no one ever mentioned the displacement of 750,000 Arabs that was the result of the creation of Israel. I vaguely knew there were people living there, but I was never curious about who these “others” were. All I took away from my family’s history and the atrocities endured was that this should never happen again to anyone, anywhere.
Growing up in the ‘60s, I became active in opposition to the war in Vietnam, the anti-apartheid struggle and the women’s rights movement and later became involved in opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a social worker, I was focused on social justice issues but never questioned the relationship between the U.S. and Israel and their policies regarding Palestinians.
Then came the war on Gaza and a real political awakening for me.
Operation Cast Lead and the Goldstone Report were the catalysts. In November 2008, the ceasefire ended: Israeli soldiers broke it in a cross-border raid killing six members of Hamas and, in response, rockets were launched into Israel. Israel, fortified with American weaponry, attacked the people of Gaza. Approximately 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed compared to 13 Israelis. Gaza was pulverized. Judge Richard Goldstone and his team did a thorough report of the causalities on both sides. There was no doubt that the people of Gaza were disproportionally affected.
Right after the invasion in Gaza I realized I could no longer remain silent. I became one of the organizers of a group called Jews Say No! in New York City. We wanted to speak out and to make clear that the Israeli government did not speak in our name as they claimed. I began reading about the occupation, settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the building of the separation wall, Jewish-only streets for Israeli settlers, special identity papers for Palestinian citizens of Israel (one step away from wearing a yellow star) and the other indignities endured by the people of Palestine on a daily basis. And I saw the total collusion by the U.S. government – its unconditional support no matter what the Israeli government did, including giving them 30 billion dollars over a 10-year period for weaponry (F16s, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous, Caterpillar bulldozers used to destroy homes in Bedouin encampments) used ruthlessly against the Palestinians. This was intolerable for me.
I understand the fears and frustrations of Israelis being fired upon by rockets and the resultant deaths and injuries. But what about the thousands of Palestinians being killed and whose homes, schools, hospitals, farms, mills, factories and infrastructure are being destroyed? What about a people living under a brutal occupation who are being denied the right to live with dignity in their own homeland?
The siege and blockade of Gaza continue. The Israeli government controls the land, sea and air of this small area (25 miles long and roughly six miles wide) where 1.6 million people live. There has been no movement in recent years unless Israel allowed it. (Egypt’s partial opening of the Rafah gate to human traffic, though not to commerce, is a positive sign if it is allowed to grow). Most people cannot travel in or out of Gaza because of continuing restrictions, 61 percent of the population is food insecure, the unemployment rate is around 45 percent, one of the highest in the world, and exports remain banned with the exception of limited items like strawberries and carnations for European markets. Gaza is called an open-air prison even by England’s Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Given all this, I can remain silent no longer. Every day Palestinians are confronting the Israeli government at the wall, at check points, at demolition sites. They risk their lives. Like the Freedom Rides our boat is sailing to call attention to the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza.
My humanity and my Jewishness – Jewish history – demand my being part of an organizing effort to end the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. The U.S. Boat, called The Audacity of Hope, will sail in late June to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla 2-Stay Human. We will be approximately 50 individuals from across the U.S. committed to non-violence, human rights and freedom and justice for the Palestinian people.
To date, tens of thousands of individuals and over 80 organizations have endorsed this U.S. campaign and each day more sign on to travel with us in name. We travel in peace for justice, and I am proud to be part of this international effort.
*Jane Hirschmann is a member of Jews Say No!, a psychotherapist from New York City, co-author of three books, and one of the organizers of the U.S. Boat to Gaza. More information about the The Audacity of Hope is available at www.ustogaza.org.
UPDATE: Original headline on this post said that Hirschmann is on the boat. She is not.
by Jane Hirschmann*
People often ask me why I am part of a team to organize a U.S. Boat to Gaza that will be sailing this month with the next International Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza. They often make clear they are asking because I am an American Jew, whose family survived the Holocaust with some surviving family members ending up in Israel. And my only answer is: How could I not?
My parents raised me with stories about what happened in Germany and their family’s escape. I came to see that Israel represented for them a safe haven should there be another attempt at annihilating Jews. And yet, at the same time, they worried it was not so safe a haven given the animosity and physical threats and violence in the area.
But no one ever mentioned the displacement of 750,000 Arabs that was the result of the creation of Israel. I vaguely knew there were people living there, but I was never curious about who these “others” were. All I took away from my family’s history and the atrocities endured was that this should never happen again to anyone, anywhere.
Growing up in the ‘60s, I became active in opposition to the war in Vietnam, the anti-apartheid struggle and the women’s rights movement and later became involved in opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a social worker, I was focused on social justice issues but never questioned the relationship between the U.S. and Israel and their policies regarding Palestinians.
Then came the war on Gaza and a real political awakening for me.
Operation Cast Lead and the Goldstone Report were the catalysts. In November 2008, the ceasefire ended: Israeli soldiers broke it in a cross-border raid killing six members of Hamas and, in response, rockets were launched into Israel. Israel, fortified with American weaponry, attacked the people of Gaza. Approximately 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed compared to 13 Israelis. Gaza was pulverized. Judge Richard Goldstone and his team did a thorough report of the causalities on both sides. There was no doubt that the people of Gaza were disproportionally affected.
Right after the invasion in Gaza I realized I could no longer remain silent. I became one of the organizers of a group called Jews Say No! in New York City. We wanted to speak out and to make clear that the Israeli government did not speak in our name as they claimed. I began reading about the occupation, settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the building of the separation wall, Jewish-only streets for Israeli settlers, special identity papers for Palestinian citizens of Israel (one step away from wearing a yellow star) and the other indignities endured by the people of Palestine on a daily basis. And I saw the total collusion by the U.S. government – its unconditional support no matter what the Israeli government did, including giving them 30 billion dollars over a 10-year period for weaponry (F16s, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous, Caterpillar bulldozers used to destroy homes in Bedouin encampments) used ruthlessly against the Palestinians. This was intolerable for me.
I understand the fears and frustrations of Israelis being fired upon by rockets and the resultant deaths and injuries. But what about the thousands of Palestinians being killed and whose homes, schools, hospitals, farms, mills, factories and infrastructure are being destroyed? What about a people living under a brutal occupation who are being denied the right to live with dignity in their own homeland?
The siege and blockade of Gaza continue. The Israeli government controls the land, sea and air of this small area (25 miles long and roughly six miles wide) where 1.6 million people live. There has been no movement in recent years unless Israel allowed it. (Egypt’s partial opening of the Rafah gate to human traffic, though not to commerce, is a positive sign if it is allowed to grow). Most people cannot travel in or out of Gaza because of continuing restrictions, 61 percent of the population is food insecure, the unemployment rate is around 45 percent, one of the highest in the world, and exports remain banned with the exception of limited items like strawberries and carnations for European markets. Gaza is called an open-air prison even by England’s Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Given all this, I can remain silent no longer. Every day Palestinians are confronting the Israeli government at the wall, at check points, at demolition sites. They risk their lives. Like the Freedom Rides our boat is sailing to call attention to the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza.
My humanity and my Jewishness – Jewish history – demand my being part of an organizing effort to end the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. The U.S. Boat, called The Audacity of Hope, will sail in late June to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla 2-Stay Human. We will be approximately 50 individuals from across the U.S. committed to non-violence, human rights and freedom and justice for the Palestinian people.
To date, tens of thousands of individuals and over 80 organizations have endorsed this U.S. campaign and each day more sign on to travel with us in name. We travel in peace for justice, and I am proud to be part of this international effort.
*Jane Hirschmann is a member of Jews Say No!, a psychotherapist from New York City, co-author of three books, and one of the organizers of the U.S. Boat to Gaza. More information about the The Audacity of Hope is available at www.ustogaza.org.
UPDATE: Original headline on this post said that Hirschmann is on the boat. She is not.
quarta-feira, 22 de junho de 2011
Sharp increase in West Bank home demolition [1]
22 June 2011, B'Tselem בצלם htto://www.btselem.org (Israel)
Civil Administration demolished more Palestinian homes this year than in all of last year. Last week alone, 33 residential structures were demolished in the Jordan Valley and southern Hebron hills
In the past week, Civil Administration inspectors, accompanied by soldiers and Border Police officers, demolished 33 residential structures in the Palestinian communities Fasayil, al-Hadidiyeh, and Yarza, all in the Jordan Valley, and in Khirbet Bir al-‘Id, in the southern Hebron hills. These were home to 238 persons, 129 of them minors. According to B'Tselem’s figures, since the beginning of 2011, the Civil Administration has demolished 103 residential structures in Area C, most of them tents, huts, and tin shacks, in which 706 persons lived (including 341 minors). [These figures include only residential structures that were demolished and not those used for livestock, storage, and baking].
This is a sharp increase in home demolitions in Area C. In 2010, by comparison, the Civil Administration demolished 86 residential structures. In 2009, the figure was 28. See full figures [2].
Israel continues to control all aspects of Palestinian life in Area C, including planning and building. Yet few Civil Administration outline plans have been made for Palestinian communities, and they do not enable any construction or development beyond what already exists, making it impossible for Palestinians to build legally in these areas.
Some of the demolished structures were in places the army had declared “firing zones.” Almost half of the land in the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea area has been declared as “firing zones,” even areas located along main traffic arteries or next to land cultivated by settlers; some of the land declared as such a zone is actually cultivated by settlers. The declaration means Israel has prohibited Palestinians from living in these areas, although Palestinian communities existed in them prior to the occupation.
The discrimination in enforcing the planning and building laws is evident in Khirbet Bir al-‘Id, next to which the Mizpe Ya’ir outpost was built in 1998. The outpost is considered illegal under Israeli government interpretation, too. As opposed to the Civil Administration's policy of demolishing Palestinian structures built without a permit, the state did nothing to prevent establishment of the settler outpost and approved its connection to water and electricity. The Ministry of Housing has funded infrastructure for the outpost, including an access road.
B'Tselem calls on the Civil Administration to cease its policy of demolishing Palestinian residential structures in Area C. The Administration must prepare outline plans for Palestinian communities there that will reflect the needs of the population and enable these communities to develop.
Statistics [2]
Background on Planning and Building [3]
________________________________________
Source URL: http://btselem.org/press-release/sharp-increase-west-bank-home-demolition
Links:
[1] http://btselem.org/press-release/sharp-increase-west-bank-home-demolition
[2] http://btselem.org/planning_and_building/statistics
[3] http://btselem.org/topic/planning_and_building
(Shalom 1492: B'Tselem (Hebrew: בצלם, "in the image of", as in Genesis 1:27) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO)whose name is Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.)
Civil Administration demolished more Palestinian homes this year than in all of last year. Last week alone, 33 residential structures were demolished in the Jordan Valley and southern Hebron hills
In the past week, Civil Administration inspectors, accompanied by soldiers and Border Police officers, demolished 33 residential structures in the Palestinian communities Fasayil, al-Hadidiyeh, and Yarza, all in the Jordan Valley, and in Khirbet Bir al-‘Id, in the southern Hebron hills. These were home to 238 persons, 129 of them minors. According to B'Tselem’s figures, since the beginning of 2011, the Civil Administration has demolished 103 residential structures in Area C, most of them tents, huts, and tin shacks, in which 706 persons lived (including 341 minors). [These figures include only residential structures that were demolished and not those used for livestock, storage, and baking].
This is a sharp increase in home demolitions in Area C. In 2010, by comparison, the Civil Administration demolished 86 residential structures. In 2009, the figure was 28. See full figures [2].
Israel continues to control all aspects of Palestinian life in Area C, including planning and building. Yet few Civil Administration outline plans have been made for Palestinian communities, and they do not enable any construction or development beyond what already exists, making it impossible for Palestinians to build legally in these areas.
Some of the demolished structures were in places the army had declared “firing zones.” Almost half of the land in the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea area has been declared as “firing zones,” even areas located along main traffic arteries or next to land cultivated by settlers; some of the land declared as such a zone is actually cultivated by settlers. The declaration means Israel has prohibited Palestinians from living in these areas, although Palestinian communities existed in them prior to the occupation.
The discrimination in enforcing the planning and building laws is evident in Khirbet Bir al-‘Id, next to which the Mizpe Ya’ir outpost was built in 1998. The outpost is considered illegal under Israeli government interpretation, too. As opposed to the Civil Administration's policy of demolishing Palestinian structures built without a permit, the state did nothing to prevent establishment of the settler outpost and approved its connection to water and electricity. The Ministry of Housing has funded infrastructure for the outpost, including an access road.
B'Tselem calls on the Civil Administration to cease its policy of demolishing Palestinian residential structures in Area C. The Administration must prepare outline plans for Palestinian communities there that will reflect the needs of the population and enable these communities to develop.
Statistics [2]
Background on Planning and Building [3]
________________________________________
Source URL: http://btselem.org/press-release/sharp-increase-west-bank-home-demolition
Links:
[1] http://btselem.org/press-release/sharp-increase-west-bank-home-demolition
[2] http://btselem.org/planning_and_building/statistics
[3] http://btselem.org/topic/planning_and_building
(Shalom 1492: B'Tselem (Hebrew: בצלם, "in the image of", as in Genesis 1:27) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO)whose name is Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.)
sábado, 18 de junho de 2011
Caterpillar Board confronted in Little Rock over sale of bulldozers to Israel
8 June 2011, Jewish Voice for Peace http://wedivest.org (USA)
Caterpillar Board confronted in Little Rock over sale of bulldozers to Israel
21% of shareholders ask for review of company’s human rights practices
For immediate release
Contact Sydney Levy (Jewish Voice for Peace) 415-994-4854
(June 8, 2011) At its annual shareholder meeting, the Caterpillar Board of Directors was confronted once again with shareholders and activists upset about the use of Caterpillar bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes.
Since 2004, Jewish Voice for Peace, together with grassroots activists and an interfaith coalition of shareholders, has been attending the Caterpillar shareholder meetings in the Chicago area to hold the company accountable for their bulldozers being used to demolish Palestinian homes. This year, Caterpillar moved its shareholder meeting to Little Rock, AK, in an apparent attempt to make the meeting less accessible to company shareholders and to dampen criticism of the company’s human rights practices. Despite Caterpillar’s efforts, criticism of the company’s policies is on the rise. Over 2,500 people have contacted the Caterpillar Board of Directors within the last 24 hours, asking how many more Palestinians need to be made homeless before Caterpillar reacts.
The United Nations is reporting a two-fold increase in the rate of Palestinian home demolitions by the Israeli authorities this year. These demolitions have razed entire villages again and again. The Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in the Negev has already been destroyed by Caterpillar bulldozers 21 times.
Russ Greenleaf, representing Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of interfaith shareholders, presented a shareholder proposal asking Caterpillar to review its human policies. The proposal got 21% of the shareholder votes (provisional results).
“Caterpillar’s sale of D9 bulldozers to Israel is not good for Israel, nor is it good for Caterpillar’s reputation,” said Mr. Greenleaf. “[Caterpillar] management buries its head in the sand when dealing with human rights,” he added. [Read Mr. Greenleaf's speech and the shareholder proposal here.]
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman confirmed this assertion when he responded to the overwhelming evidence of Caterpillar bulldozers used to commit human right violations against Palestinians by saying, “How our customers use [the bulldozers] is their business. We can’t stop them.”
Yet Caterpillar has the power to stop the sale of these bulldozers today, if they so choose. According to news reports, the deliveries of Caterpillar bulldozers to Israel have been suspended during the length of the Corrie trial in Israel. Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing a civil suit against the government of Israel in a court in Tel Aviv. Their daughter, Rachel, was a 23-year-old American peace activist killed under under a CAT bulldozer when she tried to protect the home of the Nasrallah family in Gaza from an Israeli army demolition. At the shareholder meeting, Caterpillar’s CEO would “neither confirm nor deny” that any shift in policy or practice has taken place.
ABOUT JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE
Jewish Voice for Peace is America’s largest Jewish grassroots peace group dedicated to reaching a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on the principles of equality and international human rights law.
JVP recently led a campaign to support Israeli artists’ boycott of the Ariel settlement. The campaign secured the signatures of over 200 artists dozens of Broadway and Hollywood’s leading figures including Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Theodore Bikel, Eve Ensler, Julianne Moore, Mandy Patinkin, Miriam Margolyes, Cynthia Nixon, Roseanne Barr, Ethan Hawke, Ed Asner, the architect Frank Gehry and more.
JVP works with activists in Palestine and Israel, and in broad coalition with other Jewish, Arab-American, faith-based, and peace and social justice organizations to support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for justice, security and self-determination.
Jewish Voice for Peace calls for:
* A U.S. foreign policy based on promoting peace, democracy, human rights, and respect for international law
* An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem
* A resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem consistent with international law and equity
* An end to all violence against civilians
SPEECH BY RUSS GREENLEAF AT CATERPILLAR SHAREHOLDER MEETING
8 june 2011, Jewish Voice for Peace http://wedivest.org (USA)
Hi. I’m Russ Greenleaf, a shareholder with Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of religious organizations, speaking in favor of Proposal 11.
I am Jewish. I am not anti-Israel. I have friends in Israel, and I want what’s best for them.
Caterpillar’s sale of D9 bulldozers to Israel is not good for Israel or for Caterpillar’s reputation.
Israel’s routine use of those D9’s to destroy the homes of innocent Palestinian’s is making Israel a pariah in the world and destroying any chance for peace.
Amnesty International says, and I quote:
“House demolitions usually are carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are given little or no time to leave their homes. Often the only warning they get is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s Caterpillar bulldozers. They barely have time to flee as the bulldozers tear down the walls of their homes.” [Sometimes they are buried alive under the rubble.]
An Israeli newspaper reported that an Israeli army D9 dozer operator said, and I quote:
“I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D9. 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.”
Ladies and gentlemen these are very serious human rights violations, and they happen again and again — with our knowledge.
The Israeli army says, quote: “The D9 is a strategic weapon here.”
Fellow shareholders, our product has become Israel’s weapon of choice for ethnic cleansing and potentially even war crimes.
Israel knows it, and the world knows it.
Yet our management buries its head in the sand when dealing with human rights. They say, quote:
“It’s not clear what is meant by the Company’s ‘policies related to human rights.’ ”
That is exactly why we need proposal 11 – a call to review Caterpillar’s policies related to human rights and to conform more fully with human rights standards.
Caterpillar makes very little money from selling these military D9’s to Israel, and the cost to Caterpillar’s reputation is enormous and escalating. It’s time to call a halt. Passing proposal 11 is a very modest first step in that direction. It’s long overdue.
I move proposal 11. Please vote for it.
PROPOSAL 11 — Review of Global Corporate Standards
Whereas, Caterpillar, a global corporation, faces increasingly complex problems as the international social and cultural context changes.
Companies are faced with ethical and legal challenges arising from diverse cultures and political and economic contexts. Today, management must address issues that include human rights, workers’ right to organize, non-discrimination in the workplace, protection of environment and sustainable community development. Caterpillar itself does business in countries with human rights challenges including China, Colombia, Myanmar/Burma, Syria and Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
We believe global companies must implement comprehensive codes of conduct, such as those found in “Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance,” developed by an international group of religious investors. (www.bench-marks.org) Companies must formulate policies to reduce risk to reputation in the global marketplace. To address this situation, some companies, such as Hewlett-Packard and Coca-Cola, are even extending policies to include franchisees, licensees and agents that market, distribute or sell their products.
In August 2003, the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights took historic action by adopting “Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights.”(www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/NormsApril2003.html)
RESOLVED: shareholders request the Board of Directors to review and amend, where applicable, Caterpillar’s policies related to human rights that guide international and U.S. operations, extending policies to include franchisees, licensees and agents that market, distribute or sell its products, to conform more fully with international human rights and humanitarian standards, and that a summary of this review be posted on Caterpillar’s website by October 2011.
Supporting Statement of Proponent
Caterpillar’s current policy, the Worldwide Code of Conduct, contains no references to existing international human rights codes except for a corporate policy of non-discrimination, and aspirational goals to maintain employee health and safety. It does not apply to company dealers whose activities can carry extensive reputational risks for Caterpillar. We believe company policies should reflect more robust, comprehensive understanding of human rights.
We recommend the review include policies designed to protect human rights-civil, political, social, environmental, cultural and economic-based on internationally recognized human rights standards, i.e., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Fourth Geneva Convention, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, core labor standards of the International Labor Organization, International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, and United Nations resolutions and reports of UN special rapporteurs on countries where Caterpillar does business.
This review and report will assure shareholders that Caterpillar policies and practices reflect or conform to human rights conventions and guidelines and international law. We are not recommending specific provisions of the above-named international conventions. We believe significant commercial advantages may accrue to Caterpillar by adopting a comprehensive policy based on UN Human Rights Norms serving to enhance corporate reputation, improve employee recruitment and retention, improve community and stakeholder relations and reduce risk of adverse publicity, consumer boycotts, divestment campaigns and lawsuits.
Caterpillar Board confronted in Little Rock over sale of bulldozers to Israel
21% of shareholders ask for review of company’s human rights practices
For immediate release
Contact Sydney Levy (Jewish Voice for Peace) 415-994-4854
(June 8, 2011) At its annual shareholder meeting, the Caterpillar Board of Directors was confronted once again with shareholders and activists upset about the use of Caterpillar bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes.
Since 2004, Jewish Voice for Peace, together with grassroots activists and an interfaith coalition of shareholders, has been attending the Caterpillar shareholder meetings in the Chicago area to hold the company accountable for their bulldozers being used to demolish Palestinian homes. This year, Caterpillar moved its shareholder meeting to Little Rock, AK, in an apparent attempt to make the meeting less accessible to company shareholders and to dampen criticism of the company’s human rights practices. Despite Caterpillar’s efforts, criticism of the company’s policies is on the rise. Over 2,500 people have contacted the Caterpillar Board of Directors within the last 24 hours, asking how many more Palestinians need to be made homeless before Caterpillar reacts.
The United Nations is reporting a two-fold increase in the rate of Palestinian home demolitions by the Israeli authorities this year. These demolitions have razed entire villages again and again. The Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in the Negev has already been destroyed by Caterpillar bulldozers 21 times.
Russ Greenleaf, representing Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of interfaith shareholders, presented a shareholder proposal asking Caterpillar to review its human policies. The proposal got 21% of the shareholder votes (provisional results).
“Caterpillar’s sale of D9 bulldozers to Israel is not good for Israel, nor is it good for Caterpillar’s reputation,” said Mr. Greenleaf. “[Caterpillar] management buries its head in the sand when dealing with human rights,” he added. [Read Mr. Greenleaf's speech and the shareholder proposal here.]
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman confirmed this assertion when he responded to the overwhelming evidence of Caterpillar bulldozers used to commit human right violations against Palestinians by saying, “How our customers use [the bulldozers] is their business. We can’t stop them.”
Yet Caterpillar has the power to stop the sale of these bulldozers today, if they so choose. According to news reports, the deliveries of Caterpillar bulldozers to Israel have been suspended during the length of the Corrie trial in Israel. Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing a civil suit against the government of Israel in a court in Tel Aviv. Their daughter, Rachel, was a 23-year-old American peace activist killed under under a CAT bulldozer when she tried to protect the home of the Nasrallah family in Gaza from an Israeli army demolition. At the shareholder meeting, Caterpillar’s CEO would “neither confirm nor deny” that any shift in policy or practice has taken place.
ABOUT JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE
Jewish Voice for Peace is America’s largest Jewish grassroots peace group dedicated to reaching a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on the principles of equality and international human rights law.
JVP recently led a campaign to support Israeli artists’ boycott of the Ariel settlement. The campaign secured the signatures of over 200 artists dozens of Broadway and Hollywood’s leading figures including Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Theodore Bikel, Eve Ensler, Julianne Moore, Mandy Patinkin, Miriam Margolyes, Cynthia Nixon, Roseanne Barr, Ethan Hawke, Ed Asner, the architect Frank Gehry and more.
JVP works with activists in Palestine and Israel, and in broad coalition with other Jewish, Arab-American, faith-based, and peace and social justice organizations to support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for justice, security and self-determination.
Jewish Voice for Peace calls for:
* A U.S. foreign policy based on promoting peace, democracy, human rights, and respect for international law
* An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem
* A resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem consistent with international law and equity
* An end to all violence against civilians
SPEECH BY RUSS GREENLEAF AT CATERPILLAR SHAREHOLDER MEETING
8 june 2011, Jewish Voice for Peace http://wedivest.org (USA)
Hi. I’m Russ Greenleaf, a shareholder with Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of religious organizations, speaking in favor of Proposal 11.
I am Jewish. I am not anti-Israel. I have friends in Israel, and I want what’s best for them.
Caterpillar’s sale of D9 bulldozers to Israel is not good for Israel or for Caterpillar’s reputation.
Israel’s routine use of those D9’s to destroy the homes of innocent Palestinian’s is making Israel a pariah in the world and destroying any chance for peace.
Amnesty International says, and I quote:
“House demolitions usually are carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are given little or no time to leave their homes. Often the only warning they get is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s Caterpillar bulldozers. They barely have time to flee as the bulldozers tear down the walls of their homes.” [Sometimes they are buried alive under the rubble.]
An Israeli newspaper reported that an Israeli army D9 dozer operator said, and I quote:
“I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D9. 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.”
Ladies and gentlemen these are very serious human rights violations, and they happen again and again — with our knowledge.
The Israeli army says, quote: “The D9 is a strategic weapon here.”
Fellow shareholders, our product has become Israel’s weapon of choice for ethnic cleansing and potentially even war crimes.
Israel knows it, and the world knows it.
Yet our management buries its head in the sand when dealing with human rights. They say, quote:
“It’s not clear what is meant by the Company’s ‘policies related to human rights.’ ”
That is exactly why we need proposal 11 – a call to review Caterpillar’s policies related to human rights and to conform more fully with human rights standards.
Caterpillar makes very little money from selling these military D9’s to Israel, and the cost to Caterpillar’s reputation is enormous and escalating. It’s time to call a halt. Passing proposal 11 is a very modest first step in that direction. It’s long overdue.
I move proposal 11. Please vote for it.
PROPOSAL 11 — Review of Global Corporate Standards
Whereas, Caterpillar, a global corporation, faces increasingly complex problems as the international social and cultural context changes.
Companies are faced with ethical and legal challenges arising from diverse cultures and political and economic contexts. Today, management must address issues that include human rights, workers’ right to organize, non-discrimination in the workplace, protection of environment and sustainable community development. Caterpillar itself does business in countries with human rights challenges including China, Colombia, Myanmar/Burma, Syria and Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
We believe global companies must implement comprehensive codes of conduct, such as those found in “Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance,” developed by an international group of religious investors. (www.bench-marks.org) Companies must formulate policies to reduce risk to reputation in the global marketplace. To address this situation, some companies, such as Hewlett-Packard and Coca-Cola, are even extending policies to include franchisees, licensees and agents that market, distribute or sell their products.
In August 2003, the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights took historic action by adopting “Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights.”(www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/NormsApril2003.html)
RESOLVED: shareholders request the Board of Directors to review and amend, where applicable, Caterpillar’s policies related to human rights that guide international and U.S. operations, extending policies to include franchisees, licensees and agents that market, distribute or sell its products, to conform more fully with international human rights and humanitarian standards, and that a summary of this review be posted on Caterpillar’s website by October 2011.
Supporting Statement of Proponent
Caterpillar’s current policy, the Worldwide Code of Conduct, contains no references to existing international human rights codes except for a corporate policy of non-discrimination, and aspirational goals to maintain employee health and safety. It does not apply to company dealers whose activities can carry extensive reputational risks for Caterpillar. We believe company policies should reflect more robust, comprehensive understanding of human rights.
We recommend the review include policies designed to protect human rights-civil, political, social, environmental, cultural and economic-based on internationally recognized human rights standards, i.e., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Fourth Geneva Convention, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, core labor standards of the International Labor Organization, International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, and United Nations resolutions and reports of UN special rapporteurs on countries where Caterpillar does business.
This review and report will assure shareholders that Caterpillar policies and practices reflect or conform to human rights conventions and guidelines and international law. We are not recommending specific provisions of the above-named international conventions. We believe significant commercial advantages may accrue to Caterpillar by adopting a comprehensive policy based on UN Human Rights Norms serving to enhance corporate reputation, improve employee recruitment and retention, improve community and stakeholder relations and reduce risk of adverse publicity, consumer boycotts, divestment campaigns and lawsuits.
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