Caterkiller Procession Calls for Boycotts in Brighton

From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material)

Stop The Wall Organization | 3 July 2005

Palestinian solidarity activists took to the street of Brighton on Saturday 25th of June with a lively procession calling for a boycott of Caterpillar. Campaigners from the local Boycott Apartheid Israel group targeted Caterpillar for supplying Israeli Occupation Forces with machinery and technology used in their deadly operations across Palestine. While some shopkeepers have already responded to the call and withdrawn Caterpillar merchandise, other retailers and shoppers were urged to join the Boycott of Caterpillar NOW!
The lively protest through downtown Brighton started at noon ending at the main Churchill square shopping centre. During the procession campaigners visited retailers who have yet to join the boycott of Caterpillar merchandise. Store managers and staff received letters from activists outlining Caterpillar’s role in sustaining Israeli Apartheid.
The group noted that Caterpillar bulldozers have been used in the demolition of over 3000 Palestinian homes since 1999 and “are now being used in the construction of the Apartheid Wall which divides communities from their land”. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed trying to protect their lands, communities and property during demolitions. Caterpillar machinery such as the deadly D9 model bulldozer – with attached “killer” blades – has ripped apart Palestinian lives and lands. Apartheid Israel is currently annexing 46% of the West Bank with the Wall and related apartheid infrastructure such as the military zones and settler-only bypass roads. Vital for the continuous Zionist project to expel Palestinians from their lands is the high-tech Caterpillar machinery used in nearly every single operation by the Occupation.
Protestors, clad in colourful “Caterkiller” t-shirts also visited shops that have already stopped stocking Caterpillar merchandise, thanking staff for their support. The boycott represents an understanding that Israeli Apartheid is dependent upon external support and complicity for its crimes. By isolating Apartheid Israel, genuine forms of solidarity emerge with Palestinians struggling against the Apartheid Wall and Occupation. Caterpillar, which plays such an intrinsic part in providing the means for Occupation Forces’ attacks upon the Palestinian people and their lands is gradually being exposed and creating a global movement to boycott the company.