Groups Push Bulldozer Maker to End Sales to Israel

[Paleocon]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has joined the campaign to pressure U.S.-based heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. to stop selling bulldozers to Israel's military because it uses the machines to violate human rights in the occupied territories.

Monday's appeal by HRW followed an exchange with Caterpillar Chief Executive Officer James Owens, which began three weeks ago when HRW in a letter called for suspending all sales of D9 bulldozers to Israel.

The group described the machines as the IDF's (Israeli Defense Force's) "primary weapon to raze Palestinian homes, destroy agriculture, and shred roads in violation of the laws of war."

"Caterpillar betrays its stated values when it sells bulldozers to Israel knowing that they are being used to illegally destroy Palestinian homes," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director. "Until Israel stops these practices, Caterpillar's continued sales will make the company complicit in human rights abuses," she added in the letter.


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