[Media-watch] Caterpillar Defence Industries Targeted in Memory of Rachel Corrie

[Stephen McKee]

Caterpillar Defence Industries Targeted in Memory of Rachel Corrie, Killed 
One Year Ago Today

Date: Tuesday March 16th 2004
Place: Caterpillar Defence Industries, Shrewsbury
Time: 10am GMT

To honour Rachel Corrie, the US activist crushed to death by a D9 
Caterpillar-made Israeli military bulldozer a year ago today, protesters 
intend to occupy Caterpillar Defence Industries in Shrewsbury, leaflet and 
dialogue with workers on the impact of their work, and grind production 
lines to a halt for a 3 minute silence in honour of Rachel’s life and the 
2,859 Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation since the 28th of 
September 2000.

Most of the Protestors have lived in Occupied Palestine with Palestinian 
families, and witnessed first hand the destruction of homes, olive trees, 
and lives by Caterpillar bulldozers. Some have felt the violence of the 
Israeli Occupation on their own bodies and seen friends, including children, 
shot to death by the Israeli army. Caterpillar is complicit with and aids 
these war crimes by supplying military equipment to the Israeli army.

Since 1967 Israel has used Caterpillar bulldozers to demolish nearly 9,000 
Palestinian homes, leaving more than 50,000 people homeless. Since September 
2000, Israel has razed 12,737 homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the 
past two years Caterpillar D9s demolished an entire neighbourhood in Jenin 
refugee camp and uprooted 200,000 Palestinian olive trees.

23-year-old American Peace Activist Rachel Corrie, was killed by a 
Caterpillar D9 bulldozer on March 16, 2003 as she nonviolently tried to 
prevent it from destroying a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.

Caterpillar profits from Israel's construction of the 25 foot high Security 
Barrier (aka The Apartheid Wall) that will confiscate approximately 40 
percent of the West Bank under the guise of enhancing Israeli security. The 
wall separates Palestinians from their farmlands and cuts some villages off 
from the rest of the West Bank, rendering as many as 100,000 people 
completely isolated.

Protestors will remain in occupation until they have met the Director or 
Caterpillar Defence Industries where they will call on Caterpillar to 
respect human rights and international Human Rights law by terminating its 
supply contract with the Israeli Government.

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